Waves lapping on the shore in afternoon sunlight, the colorful interior of a Buddhist temple, the iconic silhouette of Mission San Juan Capistrano, the beauty of a wooded forest. These calming, images and more immerse cancer patients in their healing places in The Wetterau Family Spiritual Care Center, a first-of-its-kind, multi-faith spiritual space at City of Hope Orange County.
Located in the new cancer specialty hospital on City of Hope’s academic cancer campus in Irvine and designed to honor the region’s diversity of faith traditions, the unique space provides beauty, peace and healing to cancer patients and their families, whether they seek solace in a religious tradition or in communing with nature.
“When we first imagined this space, we began with a question—if you feel the need for prayer and could be in any sacred space, where would you go?” said Annette Walker, president of City of Hope Orange County. Based on extensive input from patients and faith leaders, the spiritual care center became a reality.
The spiritual care center was designed by Roger Holzberg, a former Disney Imagineer and co-founder of Reimagine Well. By making a selection on a screen, guests can choose among calming images from diverse faith traditions and local natural landscapes for a quiet meditative experience.
Patients, families, community leaders and philanthropic supporters recently gathered to witness the blessing of the spiritual care center, named for the Wetterau family in honor of their long commitment to giving back to Orange County and beyond. Philanthropist and local business leader Mark Wetterau was the first donor to City of Hope Orange County’s strategic fund. Wetterau’s wife, Virginia, and Walker unveiled the sign bearing the family name at the entrance to the center.
Faith leaders from around Orange County offered their blessings for the new spiritual care center at the ceremony, during which singers and musicians of the Pacific Chorale performed uplifting music.
City of Hope Chaplain Khuram Ahmed, M.A., M.Div., began by introducing Frank Muñoz, Ph.D., chaplain and clinical researcher at City of Hope Orange County, who read lines of healing poetry.
“May I remember, as I mindfully breathe in and breathe out, I am connected and never alone.” — Dr. Frank Muñoz
That sense of connection is crucial for patients with cancer, according to City of Hope Orange County grateful patient Todd Kennedy. “I’ve had periods when the stress and anxiety kind of peak, and it’s almost hard to breathe and think straight,” he explained. “You just get so overwhelmed — to be able to go to that kind of immersive experience, it transports you out of your head and into a place where you can feel connected to whatever source gives you strength,” he said. “It’s going to be really powerful.”
“In these walls may all be welcomed, the lost be found, and the heart and soul be consoled and renewed. We dedicate this place to God the Almighty Father, that He might work merciful and wonderful things here.” — Rev. Reynold Furrell, Saints Simon & Jude Catholic Church
Todd and his wife and care partner Diane Kennedy believe the spiritual care center is another example of how City of Hope Orange County treats the whole person, body, mind and spirit— a hallmark of its whole-person approach to cancer care — as well as the people who are closest to the patient who may also be struggling with stress and worry.
“May you lead me from darkness to light. May you lead me from mortality to immortality. May the entire universe be filled with peace and joy.” — Brni. Sandhya Chaitanya, Chinmaya Mission Los Angeles
The center will be a quiet refuge that isn’t always available to patients who are hospitalized. “If you are a patient in a hospital or when you are caring for someone in the hospital, you don’t get to leave to find comfort in a place like a beach or forest,” said Diane. “This spiritual care center will transport you in a few moments.”
“Here, patients, families and caregivers will find the courage to meet each moment as it is, with open hearts and steady minds…It is our hope that every word spoken here will be guided by kindness, and every silence filled with peace.” — Ellen Hamada Crane Sensei, Orange County Buddhist Church
At City of Hope, the spiritual wellbeing of patients is recognized as essential to many of their lives and can be integral part of their overall healing. Jihad Turk, Ed.D., founding president of the Bayan Islamic Graduate School, reflected on how this approach harmonizes with that of with Islam. Dr. Turk explained that blessing sacred spaces, commemorating those who have passed and giving comfort to those who are suffering are at the core of Muslim daily prayer.
“In the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful. All praise is due to God, lord of the worlds, the most compassionate, the most merciful…Guide us along the straight path, the path of those on whom you have bestowed your blessings.” — Dr. Jihad Turk, Bayan Islamic Graduate School
Rabbi Adam Greenwald and Hazzan Amy Robinson Katz of Congregation B’nai Israel offered prayer and sacred music from theJewish faith tradition. Rabbi Greenwald articulated the wishes of all that The Wetterau Family Spiritual Care Center be a place both to find inner stillness and peace and a place to give thanks for miracles and the renewal of life.
“Master of Peace, God of Love, we come together today to ask Your blessings for this sacred space. May it be a sheltering place of calm, of restoration and renewal. For patients and families, may their time here replenish their strength and grace them with a fierce hope.” — Rabbi Adam Greenwald, Congregation B’nai Israel
The healing properties of spiritual care are supported by research. A national study published in JAMA in 2022 found that faith and spirituality are important to many people with cancer; 70 percent of cancer survivors say religion/spirituality helped them cope, according to the study led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School for Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Human-centered innovations like The Wetterau Family Spiritual Care Center are among numerous ways that City of Hope offers individualized, integrated cancer care that can make all the difference for patients.
Through the cancer specialty hospital, the advanced cancer center seamlessly connected to the hospital, and a clinical network with locations throughout the region, City of Hope Orange County delivers a level of cancer-focused expertise that is difficult to find elsewhere.
“This center will become an indispensable landmark at the leading edge of cancer care, offering solitude and community to everyone, at any time, with intention and beauty,” Ahmed said.
Also read:
The Wetterau Family Spiritual Care Center: A First-of-Its-Kind Immersive and Sacred Space
City of Hope Orange County’s cancer specialty hospital is built for a single purpose: Saving lives
Hope Rings Out in Orange County and Beyond
