The Leadership Team

For a short biographical statement about each staff member, scroll to the end of the list or click on the name of each person to go directly to their information.

Mr. Thomas (Ty) Crowe, II, M.Div., Director of Department of Pastoral Care and Manager of Clinical Pastoral Education
Office:  410-955-5842
Email:  tcrowe1@jhmi.edu

The Rev. Rhonda S. Cooper, M.Div., B.C.C., Kimmel Cancer Center Chaplain
Office:  410-502-1500
Email:  rcoope23@jhmi.edu

The Rev. John V.P.R. Ponnala, M.A., B.D., B.C.C., Family Advocate Chaplain
Office:  410-502-7617
Email:  jponnal1@jhmi.edu

The Rev. Paul Sparklin, M.Div., Catholic Chaplain
Office:  410-614-4155
Email:  psparkl1@jhmi.edu

Rabbi Dr. Tsvi G. Schur, D.C.P.C., Jewish Chaplain
Office:  410-955-5842
Email:  tgschur@yahoo.com

Support Staff:                                        

Mr .Ronald Barbee, Staff Assistant
Office:  410-955-5843
Email:  rbarbee1@jhmi.edu

 

Mr. Thomas Y. (Ty) Crowe, II, is the Director of Pastoral Care and the Manager of the Clinical Pastoral Education program.  He is an ordained teacher in the Shadhiliyya Sufi Order, and is a certified ACPE Supervisor.  Prior to coming to Johns Hopkins, Ty served as Coordinator of Clinical Pastoral Education at Sutter Medical Center, in Sacramento, California, for four years and was a part-time chaplain for the Sutter Center for Psychiatry.  He has supervised CPE students at Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Florida;  at Vitas Hospice in Ormond Beach, Florida; and at Tallahassee Memorial in Tallahassee.

The Rev. Rhonda S. Cooper is the Chaplain of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and an ordained clergy member of The Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church.  She graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, and holds a master of divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.  She served as a pastor for 15 years before becoming a hospital chaplain, and is a Board Certified Chaplain through the Association of Professional Chaplains.

The Rev. John V.P.R. Ponnala, a Family Advocate and Surgery Chaplain, is an ordained Lutheran minister of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church of India, and is a Board Certified Chaplain through APC. John holds a masters of arts degree in history, and a bachelor of divinity degree from the Ecumenical Seminary of The United Theological College in Bangalore, India. He also holds a diploma in the Ecumenical Movement from the Bossey Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland, and advocates for the Dalit people (“untouchables”) of India.

The Rev. Paul Sparklin is the chaplain serving primarily the Roman Catholic patients.  He also oversees the Roman Catholic volunteer program.  Fr. Sparklin is an ordained Roman Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.  He earned his bachelor of science degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the master of divinity from St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore.  Fr. Paul is well known in the hospital and the community, since he was born and raised in Baltimore and has served several parishes in the area.

Rabbi Dr. Tsvi G. Schur is the Jewish Chaplain.  He received his bachelor of science degree from St. Joseph University, and was ordained by the Ner Israel Rabbinical College.  He earned a doctor of pastoral counseling at Hebrew Theological College/Jewish University of America, and is a Certified Jewish Chaplain through the National Association of Jewish Chaplains.   He has held rabbinical positions in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Rochester, New York; and Miami Beach, Florida, before serving in chaplaincies in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.  Rabbi Schur served as the Jewish Community Services Chaplain in Baltimore from 1998 until 2010.

Mr. Ron Barbee, Staff Assistant, was raised in North Carolina and settled in Baltimore in 1985 after he was discharged from the U.S. Army.  Before coming to Johns Hopkins Hospital he worked for Bank of America as a supervisor of the Mail Services Department.  He is unfailingly patient in his efforts to serve the patients, staff and chaplains of the department!  He began his Hopkins career in the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.

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