MHA Society for Hospital Auxilians & Volunteers

Anderson Regional elects new auxiliary board

Anderson Regional Medical Center’s Volunteer Auxiliary Members show off their new smocks, along with Suzette Partridge, Director of Volunteer Services (center).

Anderson Regional Medical Center’s Volunteer Auxiliary recently held a meeting in which recognition was given to outgoing officers and newly elected officers were announced.
 
Mrs. Suzette Partridge, Director of Volunteer Services, presented the outgoing officers, Laura Jordan, Jim Autry and Pat Kalinowski, with a gift to express appreciation for their hard work and dedication.
 
New officers were announced as follows: Pat Maloney, President; Rosy Jones, Vice President; Pat Branning, Secretary; E.C. Bancroft, Treasurer.
 
All Auxiliary members received a new smock to wear while volunteering, so as to be easily recognized by patients and visitors.
 
Mrs. Partridge announced that Jim Autry was named Volunteer of the Year.
 
The Volunteer Auxiliary was organized in 1982 with the goal of “giving help where help is needed”.  The Jeff Anderson Volunteer Auxiliary activities include donating funds to the Meridian Community College Nursing Program.  Auxiliary members provide an invaluable service to the hospital by staffing the information desk, assisting with hospital activities/events, delivering mail and flowers, providing layettes to the Nursery, and assisting families in the waiting rooms for ICU, CCU, Surgery and Labor & Delivery.  The Auxiliary also helps with many community projects such as The Lions Club Eye Glass Project, The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life Survivors Walk, provides donations to Hope Village for Children, Coats for Kids, Angel Tree, Shop With A Cop, and the Cancer Patient Benevolence Fund.
 
Currently the Auxiliary has 40 members.  Honorary charter members include: Thelma Buie, Dorothy Y. Gleason and Emma Griffin.

Meadow Grove volunteers honored by Friends of Mississippi State Hospital

 
Pictured are the Meadow Grove Volunteers along with Friends of MSH President Bill Bobbs and MSH Director James G. Chastain.

Friends of the Mississippi State Hospital presented the second annual Vivian Shivers Award to the Meadow Grove volunteer organization during the Friends annual meeting on Wednesday, August 25.

The award honors the individual or group who represents the volunteer spirit and sets the standard for future generations. It is named in honor of the late Ms.Vivian Shivers, who began her career as an RN at MSH in 1976. She went on to serve in the Jaquith Nursing Home, and continued volunteering with the Friends of MSH organization after her retirement in 1987. 

The Meadow Grove volunteers are primarily from Meadow Grove Baptist Church, in Brandon, but the group also includes members from several different churches and groups, and there are several Mississippi State Hospital retirees in the group as well.  They volunteer once a month all throughout the year. 

“Their tasks are always different and include things like stuffing envelopes for mail-outs, curling ribbons and filling candy packages for patient Christmas bags, but there is always one constant, and that is a lot of laughter and fellowship,” MSH Director James G. Chastain said.  “Once a year they combine their efforts with volunteers from Broadmoor Baptist Church and prepare all 1200 fruit bags that are delivered to patients and residents on Santa Day.

“For outstanding service and a continued commitment to MSH, I am honored to present the Vivian Shivers Volunteer Award to the Meadow Grove Volunteers.”

Flo Upton accepted the award on behalf of her group.  Chastain said her group’s spirit of giving is in the same tradition as Ms. Vivian Shivers, who spent time serving as both president and vice-president of the Friends organization, was active on numerous committees and routinely volunteered at special events and activities. 

River Oaks and Woman's Hospitals Announce 2010 Volunteer of the Year

 
(From L-R) Paul Pieffer, Chief Operating Officer; Lucy Cox, Volunteer of the Year; Mary Lynn Davis, Coordinator of Guest Services and the Volunteer Auxiliary

River Oaks Hospital and Woman’s Hospital recently honored their most outstanding volunteer by hosting a special recognition luncheon. Receiving votes from her peers, Lucy Cox was awarded Volunteer of the Year for 2010. Ms. Cox has volunteered at the hospitals for fourteen years and has approximately 10,000 volunteer hours.

As a volunteer Ms. Cox escorts patients throughout the hospital and assists in discharging patients from the hospital.  She also serves as president of the River Oaks Volunteer Auxiliary. 

Mary Lynn Davis, Coordinator of Guest Services and the Volunteer Auxiliary, described Ms. Cox as dedicated and encouraging.  “Her sense of humor can easily help patients and their families forget their troubles.  She knows when to sympathize, when to say something funny, and when simply to listen.”

In addition to her many duties as volunteer, Ms. Cox leads a very active life away from the hospital.  She not only volunteers at River Oaks but also at her church and within her retirement community.

AHA seeks HAVE Award nominees

The American Hospital Association seeks nominations through Sept. 17 for its 2011 Hospital Awards for Volunteer Excellence. Hospital CEOs and directors of volunteer services are encouraged to nominate outstanding volunteer programs in the areas of community service, in-service hospital volunteer, fundraising and community outreach/collaboration.

For more information or to download an application, visit www.ahvrp.org. The awards will be presented at the AHA Annual Membership Meeting April 10-13, 2011 in Washington, D.C.