22 Oct 2017 Thankfulness: Unity volunteers making a difference
by Hannah K. Robison
Within each part of healthcare, thankfulness is a theme in the entire patient experience. Every member of Unity Health, whether physician, associate or patient, is thankful for one group who make each day run more smoothly and sweetly — the Auxiliary.
Unity Health Auxiliary is celebrating 50 years along with Unity Health, as it formed in January 1967. It has grown throughout the decades and is now composed of more than 175 members. Last year alone, the Auxilians devoted 49,000 hours of service.
“Our Auxilians are vital to our hospital,” said Unity Health President/CEO Ray Montgomery. “Without them, our entire atmosphere would be drastically different. Not only do they offer their time and assistance, they share their stories and kindness with each person who enters our doors.”
The volunteer program allows members of the community to serve in a number of capacities at Unity Health. Service areas include admissions, cafeteria, chaplains, gift shops, guest services, materials management, special projects, surgery/critical unit desk and cancer center services. Men wear red, and women wear pink jackets or vests, so they are easily spotted whenever help is needed. Upon entering through the front doors of Unity Health, Auxilians eagerly await to greet patients and families and lead them wherever they may need to go.
“Auxilians are the icing on the cake,” said Unity Health Director of Volunteer Services Jamie Laughlin. “Everything runs smoother when they are here, and so many families depend on them for the help and comfort they provide.”
Witnessing their love and commitment to one another, Laughlin has seen the way the group has bonded over the years, sharing in both joys and struggles. “This gives them something to look forward to each day, and they take such great care of each other.”
She recalls at one point when two Auxiliary ladies lived in the same neighborhood. Each morning, they would turn their porch lights on to signal they were ready to head to the hospital for the day and turn them off when they were ready to tuck in for the night. They kept one another accountable and always had their own communication if something was wrong.
Volunteers typically work from 8 a.m. to noon and from noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. “We don’t even see half of what they do,” Laughlin has heard comments from associates at the campus. Not only do they provide their daily hours of service, but they also work to raise funds for the Unity Health Foundation, collect school supplies for the annual A Day of Caring, collect food items for the Good Samaritan Center in Searcy, make hand-sewn infant bereavement gowns, donate scholarship money for high school graduates and host a yearly Christmas party complete with delicious foods and caroling for patients in rehabilitation at the Unity Health – Specialty Care campus. They also create tray favors for patient meals for those in the hospital during holidays.
“Their presence is so greatly appreciated and so dearly missed when they are absent,” Montgomery said. “It is admirable to see the way they devote themselves to caring for others and so selflessly giving of their time and talents. Their dedication to one another and their duties is remarkable.”
Unity Health wants to thank the Auxiliary for all the ways they contribute to the medical community. Their work at each Unity Health campus in Searcy and in Newport is beyond compare. Be sure to thank a volunteer today and every day. As Unity Health Auxiliary President, Gilliam Sills once stated, “We make a difference in the lives of others, one individual at a time.”
