PROVIDENCE HOOD RIVER’S VOLUNTEERS
OFFER GIFT OF TIME AND TREASURE
TO GORGE HEALTH CARE

This week, hospital auxiliary
volunteers presented a $25,000
check to Providence Hood River’s
chief executive Ty Erickson, from
proceeds at the hospital’s gift shop.

Pictured left to right: Sharron Rath,
Elizabeth Spiker, Kay Lincoln,
volunteer auxiliary vice president
elect Nancy Hubert, Ty Erickson, gift
shop manager Brandi Sheppard,
volunteer Manager Diana Harlan.

Volunteer Alice Facteau greets Juan
Barron and his son Elias in the
hospital’s waiting area.

Maggie is the only non-human
volunteer at Providence Hood River.
The therapy dog greeted hospital
visitors dressed as a nurse at
Halloween. All Providence volunteers
have a photo ID badge and security clearance, including Maggie.

November 6, 2009

HOOD RIVER, Ore. – At first glance, they look like nice, easy going people. They giveof their time and their talents. They perform a variety of tasks - everything from planning parties to greeting patients at the door and knitting baby booties. They are the volunteers at Providence Hood River’s hospital, clinics and senior facilities. And the impact on local health care really adds up – nearly $300,000 this year.

This week, the hospital auxiliary team, led by its vice president-elect Nancy Hubert, delivered a $25,000 check to Ty W. Erickson, Providence Hood River’s chief executive. The amount wasgenerated by hospital gift shop sales in 2009, and helps buy additional equipment for the hospital’s expansion.

Earlier this summer, Providence volunteers awarded $25,000 to support the hospital foundation’s The One Campaign, advancing clinical education and funding a “sim baby,” which simulates a living, breathing infant in distress.

The volunteers also donated $6,500 this year to support health care scholarships for five hospital employees.

They give their time nearly every day of every year. Last year, they logged 26,479 hours, worth $235,000.

Volunteers at Providence Hood River are the first to greet patients, residents and their families and to offer support in times of need. These volunteers hold fundraisers, sell jewelry, baked goods, books and other products – all in the name of giving back. At Providence’s assisted living center, Brookside Manor, senior companion volunteers organize resident activities. Volunteers also serve at Providence hospital and clinics, working at welcome desks, escorting visitors and staffing a weekly free blood pressure clinic.

The volunteers represent a wide range of ages and backgrounds. Teenagers greet expectant families in the hospital’s Family Birth Center. A spunky senior, now retired from work at a surgeon’s office, nurtures patients and their families in the ER. And one volunteer isn’t even human – she is a therapy dog, who visits bedridden folks, offering licks and love.

###

Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital is part of Providence Health & Services, the state’s leading health system and largest private employer. Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital is a full-service, critical-access hospital with a 24-hour Emergency Department. Providence offers a wide range of health care services in the communities of the Columbia River Gorge through its clinics, care centers and senior living facilities.