National Health Care Volunteer Week is April 19-25, 2020. Windom Area Health would like to thank all of the “time donors” that serve our organization. Our volunteer groups include our Governing Board, Foundation Board, Auxiliary, Patient Family Advisory Committee, pet therapy handlers and our employees.
Board members spend a lot of time and energy providing vision, strategic direction and guidance to our organization. They put in many hours to keep Windom Area Health a thriving health care facility for the communities we serve.
Both the Foundation and Auxiliary fundraise to help purchase hospital equipment, specialty staff training and other initiatives. Additional Auxiliary activities include: maintaining the gift cases, serving as lobby hostesses, giving a healthy snack gift bag to new parents, purchasing newspaper subscriptions for patients and families, and decorating the hospital for Christmas. In 2019 the Auxiliary volunteered over 2,100 hours. The dollar value of those hours is close to $53,500! We can’t thank them enough for all they do.
The Patient Family Advisory Committee is made up of community members that give input from the patient and patient’s family perspective. They see things with fresh eyes and help us with signage, safety issues, marketing, and workflows.
The pet therapy program started the fall of 2017. Dogs and their handlers visit approved inpatients, outpatients and visitors in waiting rooms and hospital employees. All dog lovers enjoy these visits!
Windom Area Health employees often volunteer to help with hospital events like community health screening, parades, the Vickie Schendel Color Jam, Tammy Hall Breast Health Walk and Be Well Path events, like the Halloween Spooktacular.
We also want to acknowledge the many community members who have made cloth masks for hospital staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are getting used by non-clinical staff at our facility so the medical masks can be used for staff that provide direct care to patients. We are still taking donations if you want to contribute in this way.
Windom Area Health appreciates all of our volunteer’s time and talents! Thank you for all you do!
By Kim Armstrong