Local health facilities rebuild volunteer programs with diverse options
Sep. 27—Bassett Healthcare Network is rebuilding its volunteer program in Oneonta and Cooperstown through community outreach and program specialties.
Volunteer numbers dropped significantly at the hospitals, clinics and long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic and are very slowly starting to climb back up, Bassett spokesperson Jennifer Steller said Friday, Sept. 27.
"When the pandemic hit, we had to stop our volunteer programs because we couldn't have a bunch of people coming in and out of the medical facilities," Steller said. "We want to rebuild our volunteer program and get the word out there that we need them and to let people know about all of the opportunities that we have."
Before COVID-19 shuttered many of the health care facilities in January 2020, the volunteers at A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital in Oneonta and Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown averaged between 120 and 135 volunteers, said Kyle Leisner, director of volunteer services and spiritual care at Bassett.
Currently, the Oneonta and Cooperstown health care facilities in the Bassett network have built back up 60 volunteers. The plan is to build that number back up to at least 135 and aim for more.
"We have so many programs for volunteers," Leisner said. "For example, in Oneonta at Fox, we really need volunteers at the hospital front entrance information desk for check in and to let people know where to go."
"Right now, we have a security team at the entrance and that is the first thing people see. It can be intimidating and not a very friendly greeting to the hospital," he added.
Other areas in need of volunteers include the gift shop, located near the front entrance, so that it can expand its hours and days of operation.
"Before the pandemic, many volunteers at the gift shop were in their mid-80s, and after they were not able to do the things that they used to do," Adelaide Van Buren, a volunteer at the Fox gift shop, said. "I would like some of the older volunteers to come back, but we need new ones too because we are only open for a few hours Monday, Wednesday and Friday."
The gift shop is not only for visitors but also is a respite for hospital staff and aids, who sometimes take their breaks by walking through the gift shop to look at the latest merchandise or the seasonal decorations, she said.
"I'm putting up Halloween decorations now," Van Buren said. "It makes it more cheerful for the visitors and hospital staff."
The cancer centers also are in need of volunteers for tasks such as talking with patients, giving out warm blankets for people on blood thinners or to provide activity books, refreshments or snacks.
"In the nursing facility, we have two to three volunteers now, but could use more to socialize with some of the patients who don't get a lot of visitors," Leisner said.
The emergency department in Oneonta is especially in need of volunteers because the city tends to have more cases than the village of Cooperstown.
Fox Hospital's emergency department is looking for students from SUNY Oneonta or Hartwick College studying health care or nursing to consider a few hours of volunteerism to assist nurses and doctors. They also are needed to help with basic things for family members or friends who are there with a loved one, like providing snacks or to answer questions and explain the process of what's going to happen while they are waiting.
An area that the Bassett program is always trying to grow is the junior program for 14- to 17-year-olds, which takes place during the summer months. It provides younger people a chance to try out different areas of the hospital, such as radiology, the cancer center or administration area, Leisner said.
Two specialty programs require additional training — the spiritual care and the support therapy dog programs.
In the spiritual care program, volunteers are on call. These volunteers go through special training. Their job could be to sit with a patient who has been diagnosed with 24 to 48 hours to live. They may hold the patient's hand, play music or simply talk to the person.
"We had one young woman who volunteered for the spiritual care program because one of her parents had died of cancer, and she wanted to do something," Leisner said. "She felt like this was something she could do for patients who may not have anyone visiting at the end of their lives."
The emotional support therapy dogs are always in high demand, Steller and Leisner said. The dogs may calm down or cheer up patients in the pediatric ward. They are often used to visit the cancer, psychiatric and dialysis centers and to support people who are nervous about going into surgery, Leisner said.
"What we also discovered with the therapy dogs, is that they also calm down and change the mood among the nurses, doctors and other aids," Leisner said.
Bassett plans to continue to push to get volunteers of all ages to grow the volunteer programs and build up to at least where they were before the pandemic.
"We are happy to have all sorts of volunteers of all ages," Steller said. "No matter how long they can be with us, it all helps."
For those interested in volunteering, visit www.bassett.org/patients-visitors/volunteer-program .
