UNION — The men and women who volunteer their time to assist the staff and patients of and visitors to Wallace Thomson Hospital will be honored by the hospital this Thursday.
“April 21-27 is National Volunteer Appreciation Week and what we do is try to make our volunteers feel special and thank them for what they do,” Volunteer Coordinator Catherine Childers said Monday. “On Thursday we will have an appreciation dinner here at the hospital. During that time we will present them with their Hour Pins which honor them for the hours they have accumulated since they started volunteering.”
Childers said the hospital’s volunteers work at the front desk and in the admissions/registration, outpatient surgery, pain management, and OB departments.
“They are the first person most people see when they enter the hospital,” Childers said. “They are basically there to assist people with any information they may need and to direct them where they need to go.”
Childers said the volunteers assist hospital staff in the departments to which they are assigned and they also assist the patients in and the visitors to those departments.
In addition to assisting in the day-to-day operation of the hospital, the volunteers also raise money for the hospital through several fund raising activities during the year including uniform, book, jewelry, and bake sales as well as the revenue from the vending machine on the first floor. The volunteers have used those funds to purchase a variety of equipment needed by the hospital over the years including a golf cart used to transport visitors to and from the parking lot; wheelchairs; blanket warmers; Dinamap machines; jumper cables for security; temporal thermometers for ICU, the third floor, and the emergency room; computers for the emergency room; AccuVein for nursing units; and to provide funding assistance for two anesthesia machines.
The funds have also been used to provide $700 scholarships for tuition for full-time and part-time hospital employees.
Childers said the volunteers are an important part of the hospital that keeps it running smoothly.
“The hospital would not run as smoothly if it were not for our volunteers,” Childers said. “Their job is assisting customers whether patients or visitors and to have their smiling faces there to greet them sometimes makes all the difference.”
The hospital’s volunteers are:
Carolyn Alexander
Bobbie Jean Belue
Diane Blackwell
Lee Booker
Jean Burnsed
James Canupp
Carol Creach
Pearl Crocker
Patsy Eubanks
Martha Gibson
Mary Gory
Charlie Gregory
Pat Hollingsworth
Sally Horne
Terry Howe
Ruby Jones
Jane Kendrick
Jenell Knox
Abby Lamb
Hope Latham
Bobbie Jean Lawson
Harold Lawson
Beth Lipscomb
Elsie McGill
Tommy McManus
Florence Meador
Elaine Means
Dot Owens
Ruth Price
Lib Revels
Linda Roberson
Priti Shah
Margaret Smith
Sara Sutherland
Nevil Thomas
Mildred Tipton
Packie Whitener
Selma Whitt
Irene Wilson
Kay Young
Editor Charles Warner can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 14, or by email at cwarner@civitasmedia.com.
Post a Comment
