Volunteers, you are an important piece

Learn the vital ways volunteers unite our hospitals, clinics and community

To honor our volunteers this year, we’re celebrating the vital ways they unite our hospitals, clinics and community. From rocking a newborn to comforting a dying patient, volunteers truly are an important piece that connects us all together.

I’m honored to kick off National Volunteer Week April 22 to 26.

From our first volunteer in the 1800s to the over 300 people who serve today, volunteers have always been an important piece. Here’s just a glimpse of the many, many ways our volunteers serve every day:

Greeting visitors and patients, helping with discharges, wayfinding and escorts; delivering flowers and cards; writing thank-you notes; assembling bereavement packets; finding, cleaning and returning wheelchairs; navigating the ED, visiting with therapy pets, organizing, filing and more filing. Glance through the facts below and you’ll see how invaluable they are.

One amazing example: Access ambassadors walk at least four miles a day, as do helpers in nursing units. You do the math for the year!

Volunteers bring invaluable experience, since many have retired from careers in teaching, health care, clergy, business and police work, to name a few. And students inspire us with their energy — clocking in at 4 p.m., usually after a full day of school.

They comfort visitors and families, along with patients and staff. Many volunteers “give back” because Salem Health helped them get healthy again.

If you see an adult volunteer in a black vest, a pet therapy volunteer in a yellow vest or a student volunteer in a red polo, thank them!

We depend on our volunteers — and always have — to care for our community.

Just some of the things volunteers did in 2023