WakeMed’s very own Jeremy Gilmore, director of Spiritual Care, is among this year’s 40 Under 40 Leadership Awards winners. The Triangle Business Journal (TBJ) received more than 200 nominations for the 2022 awards cycle.

Successes in 2021

While many patients and families count their blessings as WakeMed physicians, nurses and staff ease their pain, welcome new life or send them on the road to recovery, others must cope with loss of life, loss of independence and other tribulations. In 2021, Jeremy Gilmore, WakeMed’s director of Spiritual Care, provided comfort for so many during one of the most challenging years of our lives.

Jeremy leads the Spiritual Care team at WakeMed — a team that has been on the frontlines of this pandemic and has spent countless hours in WakeMed’s COVID units with patients who were often isolated from everyone they love.

When COVID-19 hit, requests for Spiritual Care support increased dramatically throughout the WakeMed system. Jeremy worked diligently to expand the Spiritual Care services available to patients, families and staff. Under his direction, the Spiritual Care team tripled in size to meet that growing need.

“Grief, fear and uncertainty don’t take nights and weekends off.”

That statement is why Jeremy also led efforts in 2021 to establish 24/7 on-call support at WakeMed — so that no matter the hour, a hospital chaplain was able to come to any WakeMed hospital to provide in-person support, meet with patients and families or be a listening ear for staff.

Even amidst the pressure and pain of this past year, Jeremy Gilmore continued to show up for each and every patient, often as the architect of memorable moments. Here is just one example from 2021. This past summer, Jeremy met Jaden, a young boy who had been a patient at WakeMed for nearly four months. Jaden happened to mention the name of his favorite barber during their conversation. Jeremy quickly made a few phone calls to Buddy Klein from Before and After Barbershop and, the next day, Jaden’s hospital room was turned into a makeshift barbershop — with music, laughter and a great haircut he won’t soon forget!

“In the wild times we’re in, it’s important to celebrate enduring. We’ve been through a lot this year. We have laughed and cried together. I’m grateful for our department and the critical, challenging, and caring work of spiritual care.”

It takes a special person with special training to provide strength and comfort to people facing difficult situations — and Jeremy Gilmore a shining example of that compassion in action.

2022 marks 50 years of Spiritual Care at WakeMed. And with Jeremy Gilmore at the helm of this incredible team at just 39-years-old, the future is bright for him, WakeMed and our community.

Leadership Roles in the Past 5 Years

Jeremy joined WakeMed in January 2020 as director of Spiritual Care. In this role, he is responsible for spiritual care services for all patients, families, and staff system wide.

He also oversees WakeMed’s Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program. WakeMed is home to a thriving CPE program for interfaith residents and students. Each year, dozens of students and residents enrolled in theological education receive training at WakeMed to further understand the practice of ministry for patients, families, and staff within the context of a major health care system. Jeremy plays an integral role in WakeMed’s CPE program, helping these students gain a new awareness of themselves and the needs of others

A certified CPE educator himself, Jeremy’s leadership and expertise has also led to several published articles, including a piece on using profanity in CPE — and how its use can help students experience personal, social and physical freedom. The Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling published his article in September 2020. In case you were wondering, yes, he does use profanity. As he shared, “There are moments and emotions that can’t be expressed in respectable language.”

Jeremy also works closely with WakeMed’s Diversity & Inclusion Council. In 2021, he helped introduce Courageous Conversations, an educational series on equity and inclusion. In these conversations, he spoke about being a Black man in America — and a Black man working in health care — and shared his own experiences as a victim of racism. He also led a discussion about how we can acknowledge and honor the religious and spiritual diversity within our community.

Prior to joining WakeMed in 2020, Jeremy served as the coordinator of Clinical Pastoral Education at UNC REX Healthcare and assistant director of Spiritual Care and Education at Carolinas NorthEast in Concord, N.C.

He is also an ordained Baptist minister who values the liberating possibilities of spiritual care and education.

Community Activity/Involvement in 2021

Even during a year where physical distancing and infection isolation were the norm — when in-person community activity was challenging for us all — Jeremy made a profound impact and difference in our community.

“Social distancing doesn’t mean emotional or physical distancing.”

Grief and loss in the age of COVID has been incredibly isolating. So, to honor the lives of patients, family members and loved ones lost to COVID, Jeremy Gilmore lead a virtual remembrance service in September 2021. Open to the community, more than 200 people joined WakeMed for the livestream service to remember and reflect on those we have lost.

In 2021, Jeremy and his wife Ashley established the GCCS Be Well Foundation, a 501c3 organization that works within the community to create psychoeducational opportunities for mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical wellness. They launched the ‘Seasons of Love’ series of virtual community events, hosting couples’ paint nights — using art as a form of therapy — and other interactive programs to promote inspiring and empowering conversations.

Other Achievements

As mentioned earlier, Jeremy is a CPE certified educator. Another 2021 achievement was a piece he co-wrote about the theoretical and pedagogical resources to support the social needs of African-American CPE students through twin pandemics: COVID-19 and police brutality. The article was published in the Reflective Practice Journal of Formation and Supervision in Ministry in March 2021.

A musician and pianist, Jeremy also brought music to WakeMed in 2021, performing in the WakeMed Heart Center during the holidays.

Jeremy completed his CPE training at the VA Hospital in Durham, NC. He earned degrees at Indiana University and Duke University and is currently completing doctoral work at North Carolina State University.