Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center (TLRMC) held a brunch on Friday, April 26 to celebrate its Volunteer Auxiliary during the annual Healthcare Volunteer Recognition Week.
Several members of the hospital’s staff and administration were on hand at the brunch to thank the hospital’s volunteers for their time and service, including TLRMC CEO Wayne Meriwhether, who addressed the volunteers.
“I always marvel at what one person or a group of people can do when they’re really passionate about something,” Meriwhether said. “A lot of hospitals are struggling to get volunteers - that’s not the case here.”
TLRMC’s 43 non-profit volunteers in its Auxiliary have together contributed over 40,200 hours of their time toward hospital-related projects and duties, TLRMC Director of Planning and Marketing Bill Oldham said.
To reward the volunteers for their many hours of service, TLRMC awarded service pens displaying the number of hours each volunteer has logged in his or her career with the Auxiliary up until December 31, 2012.
“You’re making a difference in the people’s lives who come here,” Meriwhether told the Auxiliary.
The Auxiliary runs the information desk in the front lobby of TLRMC and the hospital gift shop, as well as participates in various fundraisers, such as the recent Spring Bake Sale and Book Fair, Oldham said.
All the proceeds raised from the volunteers’ work goes toward funding the purchase of hospital equipment, a scholarship for a high school senior going into the medical field, and other hospital services, Oldham said.
In addition to its fund-raising, the TLRMC Volunteer Auxiliary organizes and participates in various service projects for the hospital. Three of the Auxiliary’s projects have received state-wide recognition from the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) in the category of In-Service Hospital Projects.
“The TLRMC volunteers have won three HANDS Awards (Helping Accomplish Noteworthy Duties Successfully) given by the Kentucky Hospital Association,” Oldham said of the Auxiliary’s awards. “The KHA has only been giving the award for nine years, so we are obviously very proud to have won so many of them.”
The Auxiliary received a HANDS award in 2008 for its hand-crafted sock monkeys, turtles, lambs, and frogs, which the TLRMC surgical department then gave to children coming into the hospital for surgery, Oldham said.
In 2010, the Auxiliary received its second HANDS award for its hand-made pillows, which the Auxiliary gave at no charge to breast cancer patients. The pink pillows went under a patient’s arm to “help relieve pain caused by the loss of tissue when the breast and/or lymph nodes are operated on during surgery,” according to a press release from TLRMC.
The Auxiliary is set to receive its third HANDS award in Lexington this May, also, for its renovation of the TLRMC Chapel. The Chapel renovations included the addition of a new stained glass panel that was designed and built by hospital volunteers, Oldham said.
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