Volunteers are important to Medical Center Health System for the number of functions they help out with around the busy hospital.
However, lately, there’s been a slight shortage of volunteer workers, mostly with the adult volunteers.
Currently, there are 40 adult volunteers. Some have been out since before COVID shut everything down in March 2020. Others are starting to return.
There was also a one-year gap where volunteers weren’t allowed at MCH after the pandemic was declared. It was last March when volunteer workers were given the green light to come back to MCH.
MCH Volunteer Services Manager Jennifer Jones is hopeful that MCH can recruit more adult volunteers.
“Because of COVID and my older volunteers moving away for various reasons, we need more volunteers in the building to serve our customers,” Jones said. “We’re looking for folks to come in and give us about eight hours a month. That’s what we’re looking for. We have a variety of duties that they can perform. If they want to come in, we can certainly talk about that.”
The goal, Jones said, is to bring in some new faces and ideas.
MCH volunteer Cheryl Ferguson is a retired librarian from Zavala Elementary and has been a volunteer about two-and-a-half years mostly greeting people and giving information.
“We direct people to where they need to go,” Ferguson said. “We do whatever we can do to help support MCH.”
Ferguson never considers it actual work, calling it a “labor of love.”
“I love to greet people,” Ferguson said. “I love to feel like I’m in support of the employees and the staff of this facility. We want to help in any way we can. I never say no. As a former librarian, I will help find an answer one way or another. Hopefully, it’s a positive result.”
She volunteers from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday and also serves on call when needed.
“It’s rewarding for yourself but we also like to be ambassadors for the hospital,” Ferguson said.
Some volunteers help customers when they come in with paper work.
“They can also help at our ICU waiting room and they act as a liaison between the patient and the doctor,” Jones said. “The doctors will come in and try to track down the families and give them the status of their surgeries. The volunteers track that for them. It’s nice to have someone in ICU. Those families are stressed when they come in so to have a volunteer there puts them at ease. Those families have questions of where the cafeteria is or where the restrooms are or how to get back into the building so the volunteers are always there to provide information.”
Another area where volunteers are needed is the reception desk.
“There’ll be a variety of duties,” Jones said. “They can look up a patient’s room number for them or answer any kind of inquiries they might have. Of course, there’s going to be helping and taking family members to where they’re supposed to go. … if nothing else, it’s for moral support because hospitals can be stressful to people. Not everyone gets to leave with a new baby. Most of the time, it’s for a tragedy or some illness. Any help that the volunteers can give is always welcomed. Even if it’s just a simple ‘hello.'”
Jones said she is aiming to get about 25 more adult volunteers to help with the daily schedule.
“We have people that may be out ill or need to go out on vacation or have something at the last second and we always want to have volunteers in the building to serve the customers,” Jones said.
One of the areas of recruitment that Jones said she is focusing on is corporate volunteers — employees of companies that want them to be involved in their community volunteering — as well as retired folks and even parents who have some extra time.
“Our adult volunteers are a little bit older,” Jones said. “They have on occasion had health issues or their adult children will ask them to move where they are. … It’s kind of a mixed reason why. Our society needs to get back. You make your town better when you give back in some form. There are many places to volunteer. Hospitals are very important. We’re only looking for eight hours a month. Eight hours is not too much. We can work with their schedule. We’re always flexible. We can find a place for someone with a willing heart.”
One of the current adult volunteers at MCH is Jannette Aguilar.
Aguilar serves as a volunteer from 8 a.m. to noon every Thursday where she helps direct patients to wherever they need to go.
“When they come in, we want to make sure they’re registered and everything and once they do have their paper work, we let them know if they’re having surgery,” Aguilar said. “Sometimes they need some education or instructions on it.”
Aguilar currently works as the branch manager at First National Bank of Texas.
However, she’s also still in college studying to possibly work in the medical field some day.
She is currently a junior at UTPB and is hopeful that volunteering at MCH will help her in the future in the medical profession.
“Right now, I’m about a year and a half away from getting my bachelor’s in the pre-professional program,” Aguilar said. “I’m hoping that volunteering out here not only helps me with my job but also gives me a taste of what studying in my field is like.”
Aguilar, who graduated from Permian in 2018, has enjoyed her time volunteering at MCH. She’s been at MCH as a volunteer for close to a month now.
“I really like being a volunteer because you don’t have to expect anything in return,” Aguilar said. “You’re giving your services. You’re offering your time. It doesn’t take much effort. It just takes dedication. Anytime you want to help out the community, it’s a good way to get in there. It’s good to help out with anything that has to do with MCH.”
Trying to balance her school hours and her full-time job along with volunteering has been a challenge for Aguilar. Not to mention, she’s expecting to be a mother soon.
“It’s been crazy,” Aguilar said. “I’m currently seven-months pregnant and I’m a full-time student, volunteer and manager, so it’s kind of a lot in one. But just taking it a day at a time, is the key. It’s only once a week that I come here but I still get a few days off from work. It’s a very tight schedule. It requires a routine and stability.”
