Story Posted: 2025-07-02
Supporting Health Care Workers Through Connection: Schwartz Rounds
From the St. Paul’s Hospital and Foundation 2024-2025 Annual Review
 and Julie Bergen (Spiritual Care Specialist) 6.jpg)
In the demanding world of health care, opportunities for professionals to meaningfully engage with one another are invaluable, helping them to feel they’re not alone in their experiences. The Schwartz Rounds offer this vital opportunity, creating a space for health care workers to reflect, share their challenges, and connect with one another.
Supported by our community through St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation, the Rounds are held throughout the year, with sessions in the fall, winter, and spring. To make these sessions as accessible as possible, food is provided, and the environment is designed to be comfortable and welcoming. Sessions are often coordinated with events like nursing education days, so staff can attend without conflicts.
The Schwartz Rounds are part of an initiative that began in 1997 at the Schwartz Center in Boston. It has since grown internationally, with hospitals around the world offering this program to support their staff. The Schwartz Center provides resources and training to help hospitals facilitate these sessions effectively, from selecting themes to guiding discussions. At St. Paul’s, Schwartz Rounds have become a sought-after resource with a dedicated planning committee and a growing number of participants. Because of the hard work of the 2024 committee, including Co-Chairs Julie Bergen and Dr. Mary Heilman, Dr. Renee Kennedy, Naomi Moorgen, Joanne Kizik, Kristeen Santer, Shanna-Lee Connell, Bonnie Rempel, and Michelle Murphy, an average of 80-90 people attended each session this past year to hear diverse panelists from St. Paul’s Hospital share experiences from different areas of patient care.
A wonderful success that is a testament to the power of connection, the Rounds provide a safe, supportive environment where health care professionals can express their emotions and experiences, and build compassion for themselves, each other, and their patients.