Are you Catholic?

We chaplains had a little treat this week when we got to sit down with the CEO of the hospital, Ingo Angermeier. Together, the 5 of us talked about practical jokes, heard much of his life's journey and even played with play-dough. Together we formed this stunning Bat-mobile for the plastic Batman behind it.


Born in East Germany (this explains the name), Ingo is what hospital administrators call "Mr. Fix-It." He comes to the aid of hospitals in need of some help and works to put them back on track. Building a culture that works together in an uplifting environment is his goal. Rather than tell others what to do, he makes effort to empower employees with a sense of pride in their job and then, "get out of the way."

During the conversation he shared a delightful story of a particular pastoral care department (not from this hospital) that needed some help.

When new to a hospital, Ingo likes to "play patient." Under the radar he has himself admitted to a bed just to see things from the patient's perspective. One day a kindly old man, priest so-and-so opened the door, popped his head in and spouted, "Are you Catholic?" "No," replied the patient incognito replied. The door closed. Momemet later it reopened, "You wanna be?" rapped back the preist.

This is not exactly quite how I've been trained as a chaplain, but I can take a lesson from this priest's frankness. Thank you, Ingo, for your shared wisdom and life lessons. I'll design a Bat-mobile with you any day.