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Date: 4/25/2023
WESTFIELD — Michele LaPrade, volunteer coordinator for Baystate Noble, said she was “super excited” to bring hospital volunteers together for the first volunteer luncheon since the pandemic on April 19 at East Mountain Country Club.
“We’ve just really started ramping the program up again this year,” LaPrade said.
She said they started rolling the program out in January, and are now actively seeking volunteers to serve as greeters, wayfinders and patient experience visitors — volunteers that go into patients’ rooms and help clinical staff by giving them blankets and water, if needed.
“They provide an extra layer of comfort and care,” she said. There are spiritual volunteers that sit and pray with people, and volunteers in the emergency department at the Westfield hospital who also provide comfort and care.
“All of these volunteers have started up again. We are definitely in need of more volunteers across the board,” LaPrade said.
A student intern program at Southwick Regional School also began this semester with six student interns led by career facilitator Mary Ann Margott. LaPrade said she hopes to grow this program with other schools.
Volunteers with dogs have come back, too. Linda Friedrich was at the luncheon with Laika, a seven-year-old therapy golden retriever. She also has Jackie O at home. Friedrich said she has been doing therapy work with dogs for 15 years.
At Baystate Noble, they go into people’s rooms and knock to see if someone wants a visit from a dog. The other day, a mother, father and young boy were with their grandmother, who was nearing death. The father told her, “I could use a dog.”
Lynda Walters, office manager, and Carrie Jansen, physical therapy coordinator at the Bronson Rehabilitation Center at Baystate Noble, said they like volunteers to interact with patients in the rehab unit.
She said volunteers wear red jackets, and bring around comfort carts with crossword puzzles, decks of cards, nail files and odds and ends. “To see if they need anything, if they need equipment — it helps the staff,” Walters said.
“The first day I saw somebody walking with a red jacket, I literally cried,” Jansen said.
Walters said Ned Polan came back to Bronson with his therapy dogs before some of the other volunteers. Polan introduced Piper, more formally “Golden Piper of Guilford,” who attended the luncheon. He said he also had her uncle Brinkley and has her sister Meg, all of whom were therapy dogs since they were puppies.
“Everyone in the hospital loves all of the dogs,” Walters said.
During a short program at the start of the luncheon, Becky George, regional manager of volunteer services at Baystate Noble Hospital and Baystate Franklin Medical Center, said in 2019, Baystate had 400 volunteers in 50 departments across the system.
“On March 12, 2020, we sent everyone home — and didn’t see them for over two years,” George said, adding, “Their presence and dedication were sorely missed.”
Ronald Bryant, president of Baystate Regional Hospitals, talked about the deep history of volunteers in hospitals.
“They are still doing the work that happened 100 years ago. Without them, it wouldn’t be a community hospital,” he said, adding that volunteers are part of the mission of the hospital and hold a special place in them. “[They are] what non-profit hospitals are all about.”
LaPrade said that currently she has 31 volunteers at Baystate Noble. She has a goal of 50 by August, towards an ultimate goal of 100 volunteers at the hospital. Training is offered, and they ask for a minimum commitment of six months, three to four hours a week. She said there is no stipend offered, and no specific skills needed to serve.
Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer may visit baystatehealth.org/volunteer, click on Baystate Noble Hospital, then on the “apply now” button.