News

By Kara Dowaliby, Marketing & Communications Coordinator l

Did you know that CMH has two intermittent chaplains who work behind the scenes? Meet Pastors John Slivkoff and Michael Avila, who serve as intermittent chaplains here at CMH. They cover for Chaplain Lori Blake when she is not readily available, and they also take after-hour calls when requested by patients. Avila explains how their jobs work:

“If Lori is covering and she receives a call, she will triage the situation after speaking to one of the nurses and determine the course of action. If she is available and can respond, she will do that without question.

“Yet the benefit of the role of the intermittent chaplain is that Lori, who is already full-time, is not put in the position of having to cover all after-hours calls. Absent of this arrangement, Lori would be always working,” Avila says. “It seems most of the time, one of us is available to respond to a request, which is made either by the patient, the patient's family, or the nurse who recognizes a situation where someone may feel more care and support if a chaplain was available to visit. Finally, in the event Lori is away, John and I are ‘on-call’ during that time. Depending on our schedules, we often pass off the phone to one another to ensure the maximum coverage in the event of a call, so that either John or I may take the call directly.”

During the times when Avila and Slivkoff are covering, they connect with hospital and hospice patients, families and caregivers when visits are requested. Slivkoff has been with CMH since January 2020 and is a retired pastor from Prior Parish Ministry in the Willamette Valley. Avila will celebrate his first anniversary at CMH this October. He has served in the community for four years, after he and his wife, Vicki, moved from New Jersey in 2016. They decided to move to where she grew up. Avila is a pastor at Astoria First United Methodist Church, while Slivkoff is retired and occasionally teaches at Coastline Christian Fellowship.

Both pastors find great joy in serving the community, though they were not always working in churches. After earning a STEM degree, Slivkoff became more concerned about the spiritual and life issues around him and found the opportunities to address them deeply fulfilling. That prompted him to pursue seminary training and a degree to better address those concerns as a pastor.

Avila felt called to serve.

“This is the path that I followed because it was connected to my faith, my interests, as well as my passion, which is what I feel continues to motivate and inspire me to walk alongside the dear people of Astoria First United Methodist Church, whom God has led me to serve,” Avila says. “Another unexpected door is getting to work with some great people as an intermittent chaplain, how great is that? … I didn’t see that coming, but God can be full of fun surprises that can change your life.”

Slivkoff and Avila have made meaningful memories at CMH while serving as intermittent chaplains.

“My best memories with CMH are two-fold. First, is the opportunity to connect with patients and hear their sincere appreciation for the service we chaplains can provide in their time of need. The second is the occasion to get to know our medical staff and hear their appreciation for our availability when it’s needed,” Slivkoff explains. “I feel honored to serve on our good chaplain team and with a hospital that is committed to the spiritual, as well as the physical and psychological care of our patients and staff. I thank God regularly that my wife, Margy, and I get to live and serve in our distinctively beautiful setting of Astoria.”

Avila appreciates the person-centered atmosphere that focuses on patients and caregivers, as well.

“Although I am not always around because of my intermittent status, I just love it when Kristen, our Patient Experience department manager, creates opportunities for the team to spend time with one another in a way that builds a sense of personal connection,” Avila says, “although, I must confess, I am still learning names, but I take good notes.”

Although they are intermittent, Avila and Slivkoff are here when needed.

"I am thankful for both Pastor John and Pastor Avila, who both are great assets to the spiritual care of CMH patients and staff," Chaplain Lori Blake says. “While they may be behind the scenes, they are valued support.”

Thank you, Pastors John and Michael, for your hard work in getting to know our patients and caregivers and being there for all of us.