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Va Meng Lee, a Hmong shaman, performed a ceremony intended to summon the runaway soul of Chang Teng Thao, who has diabetes, at Mercy Medical Center in Merced, Calif. Under a new policy recognizing the role of traditional healers, the hospital is inviting Hmong shamans to perform nine approved ceremonies. The policy is the first of its kind in the country.

Jim Wilson/The New York Times