Staff Bios
Tara Deonauth, M.Div., received her master’s degree at Harvard Divinity School and she completed her clinical training at Boston Medical Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Beverly Hospital and UNC Health Care. She has specialized training in supporting palliative care, psychiatric, pediatric and oncology patients and is certified in dementia care through the Alzheimer’s Association. She also serves as a mediator in Massachusetts courts through the Harvard Mediation Program. Previously, Tara worked as a high school teacher in Lawrence, MA and later as a director of data analytics for an education nonprofit. This mélange of interest and experience, combined with her insatiable love for storytelling, draw her to the field of chaplaincy. At Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital Tara oversees spiritual care services and serves as a member of the Ethics Consult, Palliative Care, Bereavement and Resuscitation Committees and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council.
Linda Skolnik, MAJS, MAJCS, received her master’s degrees in Jewish Studies and Jewish Communal Service from Brandeis University, and she completed her clinical training at Hebrew Senior Life and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Prior to joining Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, Linda was a Chaplain at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center. In this role, she supported palliative care patients throughout the hospital and supported the neonatal intensive care and mother/baby units. Chaplaincy is a second career for Linda. She spent nearly twenty years managing direct service programs for the elderly, mainly in the Jewish community. Linda has a passion for being with patients and their loved ones in their time of struggle, grief and joy, and she brings a creative approach to her practice of spiritual care by integrating blessings, poetry and music. At Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital Linda is a Chaplain, supporting medical/surgical units and the Emergency Department.