Joseph Blatz

Biography:

“Chaplain Joe” has been working in the field of chaplaincy as a spiritual care provider for close to 25 years. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Religious Studies from Canisius College and a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Ministry from Christ the King Seminary. Joe functions as a Non-denominational, inter-faith Christian chaplain. He currently provides weekend support services at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center with select on-call responsibilities.

He is an experienced Coordinator of Spiritual Care Services and comes to Roswell with a background as an Associate On-call Chaplain at a few area Hospitals and a Skilled Nursing Home & Rehab Facility. In this capacity, he has a wealth of knowledge working in both pediatrics and geriatrics. He has served on both hospitals and Long-Term Care Ethic Committees and is a champion for promoting Palliative Care initiatives. He has received recognition for the work he has done in End of Life Care. He is a certified Stephen Minister trainer and leader and continues to provide crisis care/spiritual care interventions at other health systems in Western New York.

Joe views his work as a calling – he believes in meeting people where-ever they are at, walking with them by accompany a person on their life’s journey by: providing a listening ear, a voice of compassion, holding a patient’s hand when they are afraid; all while keeping an individual in the continuity of their own faith tradition. He believes his ministry should be that of acting as a link to an individual’s belief system – offering “spiritual connectedness." By offering a person emotional support or coping care, you begin to “help people, help themselves."