Spiritual Care and Counseling Services at San Francisco General Hospital | Sojourn Chaplaincy
Sojourn Chaplaincy has provided multi-faith spiritual and emotional care and counseling at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital for more than forty years. Founded in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis through an interfaith partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of California, Sojourn began as the first AIDS Ministry training program in the United States, supporting volunteers to accompany those affected by the epidemic. That program expanded to serve the entire hospital.
Today, Sojourn, a long-standing partner of ZSFG and the San Francisco Department of Public Health, offers comprehensive spiritual and emotional care and counseling to patients, families, and healthcare staff through professional and volunteer chaplains.
Spiritual and Emotional Support for Patients and Families
When someone is hospitalized, questions of meaning, fear, grief, and hope can arise. At Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, Sojourn chaplains and spiritual care counselors meet people at the bedside, in crisis, and in everyday moments of vulnerability.
We provide spiritual and emotional support to people of all religious traditions and to those who identify as spiritual, secular, or questioning. Care may include listening, meditation, counseling, prayer, or ritual when requested, and accompaniment through serious illness, trauma, and end-of-life experiences.
“The chaplains were the ones who, to me, brought the real medicine.”
Patient Testimony
Sojourn provides a critical element of San Francisco General Hospital’s holistic care. SFGH staff members are skilled in providing resources for physical, mental and emotional health. Sojourn completes the circle, by attending to the spiritual needs of patients, families and staff.
Support for Healthcare Staff and Clinicians
Healthcare workers carry the weight of trauma, loss, and moral distress as part of daily clinical practice. Sojourn chaplains provide confidential spiritual and emotional support for clinicians and staff through counseling, critical incident response, debriefings, and wellness programs such as Code Lavender, a structured, rapid-response support program following critical events.
Our work supports reflection, resilience, and care for those who care for others.
Learning and Formation in Spiritual Care
Sojourn’s approach to chaplain training grew directly from lived experience during the AIDS crisis and is grounded in justice and public health practice. Our training emphasizes presence over answers, listening over instruction, and interfaith care without an agenda.
Education and formation are rooted in trauma-informed, evidence-based, and justice-centered spiritual care, preparing chaplains to work across religious, cultural, and clinical contexts
“Chaplaincy residency taught me how to be a chaplain in the healthcare machine. Sojourn taught me how to be a good human being”
Sojourn Chaplaincy Graduate
Why Spiritual Care Matters in Healthcare
Spiritual care is recognized as a component of whole-person healthcare, alongside physical, mental, and social care. Spiritual and emotional care and counseling address suffering that medicine alone cannot resolve—fear, grief, meaning, identity, and moral injury—helping people navigate crisis and uncertainty with dignity. Spiritual care professionals also advocate for patients’ cultural and religious needs and help healthcare teams understand beliefs and practices that influence care decisions.
Sojourn’s Roots and Ongoing Innovation
Sojourn began in 1982 in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis and grew into a comprehensive and innovative spiritual care and counseling service at San Francisco General Hospital. Today, Sojourn continues to develop innovative approaches to spiritual care, including gender-affirming spiritual care, reproductive healthcare support, trauma-informed practice, and staff support interventions developed in partnership with clinical teams.
Support Spiritual Care in Public Health
Sojourn’s work is sustained by donors, foundations, and community partners who believe that compassionate care is an essential part of public healthcare. Your support ensures that patients, families, and healthcare staff—especially those who are most marginalized and underserved—receive spiritual and emotional care during moments of crisis, loss, and profound vulnerability. By giving, you help make sure that care is there when it is needed most.
“Sojourn is an essential presence at the city’s only public hospital and trauma center”
Sojourn Donor