A university hospital might seem like an odd place for someone who spent most of his life studying earthquakes, but Creighton University Medical Center is exactly where the Rev. Richard Ott, S.J., wants to be.
The soft-spoken Ott has been serving as one of the hospital chaplains since 2002. He is currently one of three Jesuits at the medical center, along with the Rev. Charles Baumann, S.J., and the Rev. Neal Wilkinson, S.J.
Ott graduated from Creighton with a degree in physics, although he initially started out in a pre-engineering track that partnered with Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis. But life as a Jesuit was fast approaching for the recent college graduate from southeastern Iowa.
“I got to know the Jesuits here and I decided it was something I might like to do,” he said. “After my ordination, I went off to do graduate work, and I got a Masters and Ph.D. in physics.”
From there, Ott taught seismology for 13 years at John Carroll University, a Jesuit school in Cleveland, Ohio.
“We had instruments that studied earthquakes in Ohio, as well as around the world,” Ott said.
Ott gained more hands-on seismology experience when he was sent to the South American city of La Paz in Bolivia. He worked at the Observatorio San Calixto as the assistant director, “having a lot of fun running around Bolivia for a couple of years.”
When he returned to the U.S., Ott served as a chaplain at Creighton for six months before moving to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota for a year and a half to help update its computer systems.
Ott spent the next six years studying New England earthquakes while working in the geology and geophysics department at Boston College. He then moved back to Omaha and Creighton, where he has resided ever since.
Although his position as hospital chaplain doesn’t allow him much contact with the seismology community, Ott does admit to trying to “keep up with journal publications and new developments, although it is hard sometimes.” He also worked with St. Louis University studying the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which runs through Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.
Ott finds satisfaction in his little-thought-of position within the hospital community.
“We respond to all the codes and trauma calls throughout the hospital,” Ott said, describing the chaplain’s role in the hospital. “We help with the families as needed, as well as anything else… I bring comfort to patients and families. I am someone concerned for them; I help them pray and get through the difficult times. I’m also an outlet for the staff.”
Another aspect of the job is visiting with patients, praying and talking with some, as well as administering the sacraments to Catholics. A mass is also held in the chapel, located on the ground floor of the hospital.
Filling out the ranks of CUMC’s hospital chaplains are two deacons, one sister and one layman. They, plus the three Jesuits, work in eight-hour shifts, making sure someone is always there when patients and staff members may need them.
When asked to pick the most memorable part of his life, Ott paused for a moment before deciding choosing one part was too difficult.
“It has been an interesting life,” he said. “I’ve worked with lots of different types of people: college students, the poor in Bolivia, people on the Indian reservation and the sick and dying in the hospital. I’ve enjoyed it all.”