Pulse

Volume5/1990_April18April 18, 1990 PULSE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER UH Volunteers Add Finishing Several years ago, Cheryle Madsen was a cancer patient here. Last spring she decided to give something back. Now every Thursday afternoon, she commutes 52 miles to work a four- hour shift as a volunteer in the OR waiting room. She says she has had to forego a lot of other activi-ties, but she wouldn't miss her volunteer time. " Probably I do this for myself as much as anything. I get much more out of it than I put into it." One of her chief duties in the waiting room is to keep family and friends apprised of patients' condi-tions. " The patients are being taken care of, but someone needs to be here to meet the needs of the family members and friends who are waiting- to calm their fears and answer their ques-tions," she says. Sometimes, she says, she goes home in tears, having shared anxious and emotional moments in the waiting room. But more often, she adds, she goes home feeling elated. Likewise, volunteering puts Marie Touches Lindley in a good mood. Marie has worked at the informtion desk for two years. She says all the volunteers are pleasant and have an attitude of " what can I do to help visitors?" Cheryle Madsen One day while at the desk, Marie said she noticed a woman across the lobby stop and walk back to the information desk just to tell Marie what a pretty smile she had. It's those litde paychecks that keep Marie and her colleagues coming back week after week. " I wouldn't come here if I didn't enjoy it," she says. While Marie answers visitors questions on Friday mornings, volunteer Kathy Dunlop is up on 2 North visiting patients as a patient representative. She says as a volunteer, you quickly see the need to " be yourself." " Most people in a hospital just want someone to reach out and touch them. You need to be a caring human being." There is fulfillment, she adds, in " connecting with others." At minimum wage, University Hospital's 150 volunteers would provide the equivalent of $ 95,000 in service for the hospital each year. But there's no way to put a price tag on the valuable work they cheerfully and tirelessly perform for free. Nor would the volunteers want to collect a paycheck; their rewards come in other Kathy Dunlop shapes and sizes. According to Dot Maxfield, director of volunteer services, U Hospital's women in pink and men in blue donate nearly 25,000 hours yearly in more than 35 areas of the hospital. They are being honored April 22- 28 during National Volun-teer Week. In a letter to the volunteers, UH Executive Director George W. Belsey said, " The time and service you have graciously given make a significant difference to the comfort and well- being of our patients." Here are just a few examples of the kind of people who are proud to bear the title of UH Volunteer: Chuck Eusterinan sizes up cement forms that are part of a new fountain under construction in front of University Hospital. The project, which will include a fountain at each end of the hospital's drive, connected by a waterway, is estimated at $ 340,000 and should be completed in July. It is being donated to the hospital by Obert C. and Grace A. Tanner. Primary Children's Medical Center Gears Up for Move Fun And Games. UH celebrates Hospital Week this year with The Hospital Games/ Picnic Thursday, May 10 11: 30 a. m.- l p. m. Compete in: • Hospital Bed Race • Wheelchair Race • Speed- eating • Bedpan/ Balloon Relay • 4- legged Race Sign up for a team through your department head. Monday is moving day! On April 23, Primary Children's Medical Center will check into its new facility on the U health sciences campus. To accommodate ambulances transporting the pediatric patients, traffic on North Campus Drive near the health sciences center will be altered slighdy ( see accompanying map). Eastbound traffic will be delayed throughout the day as ambulances turn left off Federal Heights Drive. Westbound traffic ( coming from University Hospital, the east surface lots or Fort Douglas) will be detourcd onto Medical Drive to allow the ambulances to drive left of center on North Campus Drive. The traffic change has been arranged to allow for the shortest possible ambulance route between the old and new pediatrics facilities. Some equipment will be moved April 21- 22, but no traffic patterns will be affected. The patient move is scheduled to begin at 6 a. m. and run late into the afternoon. The first group of patients to be moved that day will be those in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Gold Cross Ambulance has donated eight ambulances and drivers for the occasion. During move day,' only authorized individuals will be allowed at either PCMC facility. Shaded portion of map shows area on North Campus Drive that will be affected by the Primary Children's Medical Center move on Monday April 23. Eastbound traffic will be delayed periodically during the day to allow ambulances to turn left off Federal Heights Drive. Because the ambulances will be traveling left of the traffic island, west-bound traffic from the hospital will be detoured onto Medical Drive. UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL AND TH SCIENCES CENTER FEDERAL HEIGHTS DRIVE PRIMARY CHILDRENS MEDICAL CENTE