Transcription:
How Volunteers Advance Care In Our Community

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Kaleb Miller: Hello and welcome from wherever you're tuning in. And thanks for listening to the Well Within Reach podcast series by Riverside Healthcare. My name's Kaleb Miller. I'm going to be your host today and today I am joined by a friend of mine from back in our Riverside Healthcare foundation days. I'm joined today by Lauren Short. Lauren is the Director of Volunteer Services and Community Outreach at Riverside Healthcare. And today we're going to be talking a little bit about how volunteers in our community can help us at Riverside advanced care right here in our own community. It's going to be a really exciting topic to get to talk about and I think we're going to have a lot, a lot of fun today. So Lauren, thanks for joining me today.

Lauren Short: Glad to be here.

Host: So Lauren, I know a little bit about you from when we worked together back in the foundation, but tell our listeners just a little bit about yourself and then your role here at Riverside.

Lauren Short: Sure. This is year six for me with Riverside and as you said, my title today is Director of Volunteer Services and Community Outreach. But before this I worked with the foundation office at Riverside. So my prior life was connecting monetary resource to impact our community through Riverside. And now I get to connect the resource of time to improve our patient experience. Otherwise I'm involved in our community with the chamber of commerce and the United Way. I enjoy serving on those boards and then hanging out with my husband and my four month old at home in the evenings.

Host: You are a busy woman, Lauren. Hopefully you're sleeping at night.

Lauren Short: Once in awhile.

Host: Good, good. So Lauren, I've, I've heard so many people say when they are volunteering with a food bank or their church or at a local school, they just, they feel good. I don't know what the scientific reason behind that is, but why do you think that it's, it's so beneficial to volunteer in your community?

Lauren Short: I do think there, there is, I know there is science behind why it's beneficial to volunteer. Actually, there's some really interesting research studies that Medicare has done recently. It shows volunteering to release dopamine. So scientifically it's boosting your mood when you're helping others, and it's as little as two or three hours a week starts to show results. So everything from improved memory, decreased blood pressure, decreased depression. So as a health system in recruiting volunteers, I'm actually helping the wellbeing of those volunteers as well. So, win-win.

Host: Yeah, absolutely. You know, we always want to make our community healthier. And so sounds like volunteering in your community can do just that. So healthcare volunteering certainly go hand in hand. So here at Riverside we have a history of just incredible community volunteers, here in Kankakee County and really all over our community, but specifically here at Riverside. Tell us a little bit about how our history at Riverside began with some volunteers.

Lauren Short: I think a lot of people don't realize that Riverside was started with volunteers. In fact, our very first volunteers were fundraisers 56 plus years ago. We had community people who organize themselves and fundraised for the very first hospital, literally knocking door to door, selling hot dogs at a hot dog stand. There's a lot of fun stories. Since then we had an active auxiliary, during their time they raised nearly four and a half million dollars for us. And then since then we've launched a full fledged community volunteer program. So today we have over a thousand volunteers each year that work with our office. And it's a blessing to work with them all.

Host: So really volunteers are at our core at Riverside, they helped you know, break ground on the first Riverside. And you know, I don't know that a hot dog stand is necessarily you know, a good healthy fundraiser by today's standards I guess. But a really unique fact to get to know that, that is what helped launch us to where we are today.

Lauren Short: Right? Everything in moderation.

Host: Yes, absolutely. So if I'm a listener right now and you know, I, I want to be a part of volunteering at Riverside, I want to get plugged in. What does that look like? How, you know, what are the many ways that listeners can do this in our community at Riverside?

Lauren Short: I am so glad you asked. I always want to emphasize to people the variety in our volunteer program. You know, our youngest volunteers are 14. My eldest right now is 94 and then everyone in between. Fantastic history. What many people don't realize is that our volunteers also stretch far beyond the actual hospital. So while a lot of care happens within the hospital setting, we have locations all throughout six counties. And our volunteers represent that as well. So nearly 20 different locations where people can volunteer. Just a few examples of roles because volunteerism can be very diverse. We have everything from those faces you think of right away, way finding experts and transporters at the hospital, to animal ambassadors. A well loved program where therapy dogs actually get to visit our patients.

Host: One of my favorites.

Lauren Short: Right. We have volunteers that play music. We have volunteers at work in more administrative positions like the human resources office. Our gift shop is largely run by volunteers. The cancer center in our OB unit. We even have our senior advantage program where volunteers really become experts on Medicare and help the community to navigate Medicare, and just getting taken care of. So there's a lot of different ways people can get plugged in. I would say every volunteer has a story about why they're looking to get plugged in and it may be about the social, maybe using their expertise. Some of them are students just trying to get experience in the healthcare setting. And so we love to learn what that individual is interested in and then plug it into our mission at Riverside.

Host: Yeah. Even here in our office, we have a volunteer currently who comes in weekly to help us out around the office. And we enjoy having her. She is really a part of our team. She, you know, is out to lunch with us. She's, you know, engaging with us in the office. And it's a great thing to, to be able to have in our office, a volunteer who's helping us. So for college and high school students experience especially, looking to get that experience. That's a great way for them to get their foot in the door and get some skills.

Lauren Short: It really is. And we have some awesome stories of folks who started as volunteers with us, went on to maybe become a CNA, eventually go to nursing school and now they're working every day on our floors. So it's neat how those things come together.

Host: Yeah. So these, these volunteers are really doing great work, not only just here in Riverside, but when you think about it from a bigger picture, the whole community. So what kind of impact are these volunteers having on the remarkable care we get to provide at Riverside every day?

Lauren Short: Well, I just am always reminded that health needs can sometimes represent really trying times or unsettling moments for our patients and families. And so our volunteers are really part of that kind touch and treating patients as if it's their own family. So our shared mission is to create that remarkable patient and family experience. That's the intangible most important part of our work. But by the numbers, if I look at impact, monetizing the hours that are volunteer at each year adds up to over $800,000. So that time give back is, is nothing to sneeze at.

Host: Yeah, certainly not. Yeah, that's, I mean, that's an incredible number. So really people just think, you know, when you think of a volunteer, they're coming in and you may not see them, but really they're really impacting the high quality care that we're able to provide at Riverside.

Lauren Short: Absolutely. And I think as a community hospital, that's one of our differentiators. And so part of being a community hospital is literally having the community to live and breathe and volunteer in your hallways. And we definitely do that.

Host: Yeah. I know. I enjoy going down to the cafeteria to get lunch and seeing the same volunteer at the desk every day who says, hi, knows my name, asks how I'm doing. And so I can only imagine as you know, maybe a patient who comes into the hospital who sees that volunteer, how comforting that must be. You know, maybe in a scary time or in a time where they're unsure about a test or an appointment that has to be comforting for them.

Lauren Short: Well said. Yeah. Riverside's mission is, you know, our highest thinking, kindness touch, strongest commitment to excellence. And so I think that's something we reiterate with our volunteers and that they do each day.

Host: Yeah, absolutely. So Riverside just recently celebrated its 55th birthday as an organization. And so that's 55 years that Riverside employees have been giving back to the community, in a lot of different ways as well. And now I'm hearing there is a new way that Riverside is a Riverside employees I should say are going to give back. Tell us about this new program, Riverside Serve?

Lauren Short: Yeah. So Riverside employees have been giving back for years and now we're going to see them even more in a little bit more intentional way. So, you know, one of our best resources as a healthcare system is our 3000 plus employee team. And if you asked any of them, if they volunteered in the community or even with their work team, most of their hands would go up. But until this year we really have not had a centralized intentional way to outreach to our community as Riverside family. And so our Riverside employees are now taking part in what we're calling Riverside's Serve days. Quarterly, we're organizing volunteer day, volunteer projects with community, nonprofit partners and partners throughout our whole six County area. So for instance, we're starting with the Center of Hope right here in Kankakee. We have another event planned with Harbor House in Waseca for [inaudible] County. And so I'm really excited to just see that way that our employees can come together and serve our communities. Of course, they do that every day through their work day. But credit them, it's such a part of who they are. They're also interested in doing it this way through our serve days.

Host: Yeah. And for listeners who may not know, Center for Hope and Harbor House are what kind of organizations?

Lauren Short: Thanks. The Center of Hope is a food pantry and Harbor House serves domestic violence. And so we're actually helping at their resale shop, which funds their services.

Host: So two great local nonprofits that are really missionally aligned with Riverside, well, so great organizations for our employees to be plugged in with. So I'm listening, I'm interested in Riverside volunteer program. How do I volunteer? What can I do?

Lauren Short: Go online. For us, it's Riversidehealthcare.org/volunteer. So easy to remember. I do still have folks that just want to come in and shake a hand and see a face so you can always stop by as well. We have an office at the Kankakee Hospital location but most people start with us online, and we love to see those applications come in.

Host: So it's really just that easy to go online. So that again, if you're listening is Riversidehealthcare.org/volunteer and there's an application you can go online and fill out. Lauren, is there anything else you'd like to add for the listeners about volunteer opportunities at Riverside?

Lauren Short: You know, I think the other thing I would mention is my title is Director of Volunteers and Community Outreach and so beyond everyday volunteerism, our office is also the point of contact for community outreach efforts, like a career exploration tours for students, like corporate groups that want to give back or help a certain patient population. And so I would just put that out there. Now you have my name and a way to get a hold of me and I love to connect the dots and those kinds of outreach efforts as well.

Host: Yeah, I think one of my favorite programs, a part of what Lauren is doing is, you know, we have really high quality innovative technology at Riverside. And you know, one of the coolest things that you do is the local robotics teams come in from our community to get to see some of our robots that we use in surgery and disinfecting rooms. And so that's just another great example of how our community can get plugged in with Riverside and make those connections.

Lauren Short: It's a win win to plant the seeds early in a student's mind.

Host: Absolutely. Well, Lauren, thanks for joining us today on the Well Within Reach podcast. We are excited to see how this program continues to grow. And if you're listening again, that link to volunteer Riverside and apply is Riversidehealthcare.org/volunteer. Lauren, thanks for joining us today.

Lauren Short: Thanks for having me.