ALBERTON
Phyllis Weatherbie and Dale Ryan have an afternoon gig every Tuesday, entertaining Western Hospital patients.
Weatherbie says the patients seem to enjoy them. “We like to sing the old songs they know.”
“As long as they enjoy it, you enjoy it, too,” says Ryan in describing the satisfaction they get from volunteering.
Weatherbie and Ryan are helping to break new ground in West Prince and P.E.I.
Just over a year ago, Andrew Ramsay took on a role as volunteer coordinator for the hospitals and manors in Alberton and O’Leary. Since then he has assembled a list of 220 volunteers who help out at Western Hospital or Maplewood Manor in Alberton or Community Hospital or Margaret Stewart Ellis Home in O’Leary. Some of the volunteers help out in more than one of the institutions.
“With a lot of volunteers, those who do, do a lot. They like to contribute wherever then can,” Ramsay acknowledged.
While volunteer programs were already well-established at the two long-term care facilities, until last February there was no formal volunteer program in place at either of the hospitals.
Many of the volunteers on his list, Ramsay said, were already helping out at one of the long-term care facilities and agreed to help pioneer the program in the hospitals.
Ramsay points out he does not want to take away from the manors’ volunteer network. Part of his mandate is to expand the volunteer opportunities in those facilities.
George Profit is glad to get to know the volunteers. The Western Hospital patient admits the volunteer entertainers help break up an otherwise long day.
“It’s a great program. They treat you good,” he said.
“It’s good of them to come here.”
The volunteer program is co-funded by Acadian and Francophone Affairs through the Canada-P.E.I. French Language Services grant, and Health P.E.I.
Ramsay said he surveyed staff at the two hospitals on where they felt volunteers could be most effective in the hospitals. Staff pointed to a need for activities for patients. The grant has allowed for the purchase of board games, cards, card-holding slots, puzzles and other items that volunteers can use to help patients pass time.
“The time can be long,” said Ramsay.
Western and Community hospitals’ Ramsay said, are the only hospitals in the province offering such volunteer-driven activities for patients. Volunteers can also sign up for Information Desk roles at the hospitals, helping to direct patients and clients to the services they require.
There are some other firsts for the West Prince program, too – the first volunteer program in the province incorporating hospitals and long-term care facilities and the first with an online volunteer sign-in component.
Interested volunteers can fill out a form available at the front desk of the hospitals, or they can do so online. They must provide character references and apply to the RCMP for a vulnerable sector check and sign a confidentiality agreement. There is also an orientation process so that volunteers know their way around the facility and are familiar with policy and procedures.
Another first for P.E.I. is an online registration option, where registered volunteers can sign up for volunteer shifts.
“Each volunteer has their own account. They have the ability to sign up for volunteer roles that they’ve been assigned,” Ramsay explained. The assignments are based on the volunteers’ areas of interest. There would be no point in assigning them to a role that does not interest them, he said.
The hospitals and manors, Ramsay said, can still use more volunteers.
Volunteers sign in when they arrive and sign out when they are leaving. Their volunteer hours are tracked though a Volgistics software program.
The volunteer program was the recent recipient of the West Prince Chamber of Commerce’s Community Impact Award.
The first joint appreciation night, for volunteers from the four facilities, was held last fall at the Cultural Centre in Deblois. Approximately 165 volunteers attended.
