Alabama Council of Hospital Auxiliaries Volume 22, Issue 3 Founded 1957

The Communicator July, 2010

The Communicator is ONLINE

Www.AlaHA.org Most of our Auxilians do not know that the Communicator newsletter even exists. They are missing the news from around the state about what other auxil-iaries are doing each quarter. They also miss the articles about their own auxiliary that may be printed in the Communicator. The responsibility lies with each of you that receive the Communicator each time it is printed and mailed out. Some auxiliaries place their copy of the Communicator in the volunteer area for viewing, but in larger hospitals and many “undersized volunteer rooms”, the Communicator is not seen by the multitude of volunteers that perform services each day. Therefore, YOU must step up and in-form your auxiliary members of the Communicator and how to access it online. PLEASE CHECK IT OUT!!!! Go to www.alaha.org then click to AFFILATES on that page go down to >>Auxiliaries, Alabama Council of Hospitals (ACHA), which will allow you to open “The Communicator” which is the official newsletter for the state volunteers. This newslet-ter is printed each quarter and highlights activities ongoing at hos-pitals across the state. I would like to encourage each Auxiliary to print an article in their local newslet-ter or put up a sign in the volunteer area or give instructions at your next volunteer meeting to “get the word out!” Thanks, Don & Sarajane Pugh, Co-Editors

Since the last issue of the Communicator, I have attended the four District meetings, installed officers at Vaughn Regional, attended four ap-preciation luncheons, helped organize one new Auxiliary, attended the Springhill general meeting, the State Board meetings, and my own Auxil-iary meetings. Plus, Billie Simpson, State Chair-Elect, and I have visited the Grove Hill Memorial Auxiliary, South West AL Medical Ctr. Auxiliary, Gadsden Regional Medical Center Auxiliary, Athens-Limestone Auxiliary, Cullman Regional Medical Center Auxiliary, Northeast Alabama Regional Auxiliary and the Chilton Medical Center Hospital Auxiliary. I just returned home from the SDVSHO Conference held in Atlanta, GA. Betty Stallings was the keynote speaker. Her topic was about “Change”. Stating that “you can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come into contact with a new idea”. She also suggested that we might change the title Senior Citizens to “early old.” Here are the four stages that we must go thru to change. They are “ending” (our old way), “transitions” (accepting the new way), “beginnings” (working with new issues), and “beyond the beginnings” (always looking for new challenges). There’s no stopping it! We have all gone through many changes in our life and will no doubt have many more. I remember when we didn’t have a T.V., then having a T.V. but, NO REMOTE, can you imagine that! Having a two party telephone, or when slacks were a NO NO!! for women, and there were no fast food restaurants. I could go on and on, after all I am “early old”. Next RoseAnna Gallindo-Kuhn spoke about the program PLANETREE. This pro-gram was started by Ms. Kuhn and is being used in California where Ms. Kuhn is the DVS. This program is a way of looking at the entire hospital experience thru the patient’s eyes. Volunteers play a vital role by providing human interaction with the patients. Here we are called “Plus 55” not “early old”. Ms. Stallings presented a session entitled “The Art Of Letting Go”. She discussed how to delegate and how to let those being instructed, to do their jobs, and how to keep up with what they are doing and be there to assist them if needed. By delegating you are allow-ing others to grow and by doing so you are setting a good example. She stressed that you should never feel that you are the only one that can get the job done. Friday evening “Murder under the Magnolias”/ dinner was held. During dinner several actors in costume, strolled around the dinning room trying to find out who murdered the richest, most powerful man in town. After dinner we could vote on who we thought had committed the crime. Only one person guessed it right! That person was not me! Saturday morning the “7 Minute Resolution” by Allyson Lewis was presented. Ms. Lewis believes you can be different tomorrow than you are today, if you believe deep down that you can be happier, smarter, more productive, more organized, and more effec-tive. Stating that to do this you need to prioritize, organize and simplify. The “7 Minute” micro actions are:

Outline a written daily plan of action (what do you want to accomplish that day) Completing “5 before 11” Handwriting 2 thank-you notes per day Getting up 15 minutes earlier Drink more water

If you try this let me know if it works! It was announced that next year’s SDVSHO Conference will be held on April 9 – April 13, 2011, at the Louisville Downtown Marriott in Louisville, KY. Also, don’t forget to mark on your calendar, the ACHA 2010 Fall Conference, Oc-tober 17 – 20 at the Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel, Mobile, AL. In my quite time, I sit down and read your news letters. Each newsletter is so infor-mative and filled with so many new ideas. You are all to be congratulated on a job well done! Your enthusiasm and dedication is a true definition of what a volunteer stands for. Until next time, Sharon Farst, ACHA State Chairman

Help!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!

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From the Chair Elect

(left to right)

While researching how our hospital’s Auxiliary could increase the awareness of diabetes and prevention, we real-ized… Mother Nature still knows best! No matter how ad-vanced our society has become, breast milk remains the one and only natural, complete and complex nutri-tion for human infants. There are so many incredible health benefits passed from mother to child through breastfeeding. That’s why breastfed babies have:

Less risk of childhood diabetes Less risk of childhood obesity Less risk of high cholesterol or heart disease

later in life Less risk to develop childhood cancer Less diarrhea and upset stomach because

baby enjoys more digestible, nutritional meals

Less risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syn-drome)

Less skin problems Less ear infections, lowering the need for

tubes Better protection against allergies, asthma &

respiratory problems Less risk of tooth decay Increased IQ Fewer and shorter hospital stays

Breastfeeding moms also enjoy many benefits like:

Reduced risk of developing diabetes Reduced risk of breast, ovarian, cervical, and

endometrial cancers Reduced risk of anemia Protection against brittle bones and hip frac-

ture later in life A “flatter tummy” faster and likely to drop baby

weight faster Fewer missed days of work due to baby’s ill-

ness Less likely to have “baby blues” Greater WIC benefits Fewer and shorter hospital stays

If your hospital has a lactation con-sultant program, consider partnering with them to help get the good word out about the incredible benefits of breastfeeding.

naturally sweet Betty Caffey, ACHA Projects Chair

In keeping with the goal we have set to visit a number of auxiliaries across the state, Sharon and I have been spending a lot of time on the road. In February we attended three District meetings and visited five auxilia-ries. In March we attended the general membership meeting at Springhill and then visited two other auxilia-ries in that area. April has been less hectic but it looks like May will pick up again for us. We have proposed to attend two District meetings and four other auxiliaries that we hope to visit. For the most part we have had great success in scheduling our visits with only two that were unable to see us. Each visit offers us an opportunity to listen to the concerns and problems of that auxiliary and then hopefully to offer information, resource suggestions and ideas that might help them solve their problems. As you might imagine they all have similar concerns, those being primarily recruiting and retaining volunteers and fund raising. During our visit we also encourage these auxiliaries to make an effort to attend the fall conference and remind them that it’s at the conference where they will find the greatest source of help with workshops and the networking opportunities. Below are some pictures from our visits. These ladies were eager to share their ideas with us. As you can see from these smiling faces, we have some beautiful vol-unteers in Alabama...Beautiful faces and Beautiful hearts. Thanks to all of you for making Sharon and I feel so wel-come at your facility. It was a pleasure to meet all of you. Billie Simpson, Chair - Elect

Athens-Limestone Hospital Sharon Farst, Carlos Ann Woodward & Billie Simpson

Cullman Regional Medical Ctr. Helen Armstrong, Sharon Farst, Sarah Hicks, Margaret Reynolds, Maxine

Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Ctr. Sharon Farst, Vickie Simmons, Pat Boyd, Virginia Harwell, Alice Spears, Bennie Edwards

Grove Hill Memorial Hospital French Downey, Janie Parden, Sharon Farst, Emily Steadham

Southeast Alabama Medical Ctr. Audrey Ford, Sharon Farst, Billie Simpson, Jo Wood, Linda Privett

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ACHA Fall ConferenceACHA Fall Conference When: October 17When: October 17--2020 Where: Renaissance Where: Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel, Mobile AlabamaRiverview Plaza Hotel, Mobile Alabama What: Time to Learn and Share with other What: Time to Learn and Share with other Auxiliaries from across the state. Auxiliaries from across the state. Why: To Grow Stronger, Wiser, More Efficient Why: To Grow Stronger, Wiser, More Efficient Volunteer Programs Through Participation.Volunteer Programs Through Participation.

Don & Sarajane Pugh, Newsletter Co-Chairs

for ACHA

Hello! Golly, it’s Getting’ Hot. As summer is now upon us, I know some of your auxiliaries are slowing down and Junior (Student) and College volunteers are at your hospitals, so you need to look at what they are do-ing and consider an article for the Communicator about their role as current and potentially FUTURE volun-teers. Are they doing some-thing interesting, that you might share with the rest of the state???? If so, then get out your camera and email me a picture and article as your next report. Many of you enjoyed the article about Bibb Medical Center and its “Fishing Hole”, so send me something about your hospi-tal that may be of interest. Also, please continue to send information to us using our email address which is ezzzlife@peoplepc.com or if needed by mail to 762 Cambridge Lane, Tuscaloosa, AL. 35406. We can be reached at (205)462-3374. Finally, please let us know if you like the newsletter or if you have r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s f o r change.

Happy Reading…... Don & Sarajane Also, remember we are hu-

man, so if we misspell a name or have a dangling participle,

we’re doing our best.

Volunteers are still talking about last year’s Fall Conference which was held in Montgomery. Many have used the experiences and exposure to other auxiliaries as a spring-board to strengthen and grow their local programs. Volunteers learned more about the State Project, which emphasizes a different area periodically such as Diabetes, which Betty Caffey (as ACHA Program Chairman) has written about in the last Communicator. Many were exposed to “Rhythm” and to “Clowning Around” which were two of the more popular breakouts last year. There were wonderful keynote speakers and vendors to keep your in-terest and “Tons of Laughter” provided by our own volunteer groups in the Talent Show, which will be repeated this year. Speaking of the Talent Show, you need to begin working on your next act so you can be ready to WOW us again. The money raised by voting on the favorites was used to offset the speakers costs of the conference. Some auxiliaries questioned the justification of the expense for the auxiliaries in at-tending the conference, but considering the benefits received through the exposure and the investment in the future of the auxiliaries, it far outweighs the initial investment, so we im-plore each auxiliary to again promote the attendance of your auxiliary members or possibly consider this as your first time to attend. We need your support along with providing you with valuable feedback, education, networking, and re-charging of your internal batteries which will make you a better, stronger, wiser volunteer organization. See you there……..watch for registration information, rehearse your talent act and pack your bags!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ACHA Yearbook 2010 ACHA Yearbook 2010 -- Historian Report Historian Report

Keep those newsletters, pictures and newspaper articles coming! Please include names on the back of pictures so they can be identi-fied in the State Yearbook. Send them to: Fran Brazeal, Historian DCH Medical System 1004 Lansing Place Northport, AL 35473 (205) 339-3094

Send me photos of events at your hospi-tals, conferences at-tended, sales, awards presented, and any other historical information you wish to include in the ACHA Yearbook. Thanks

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Alabama Council of Hospital Auxiliaries

(The following are notes from the April 21st ACHA Board meeting) The Executive Board of ACHA met on April 21st, at the Office of the Alabama Hospital Association in Montgom-ery, AL., with Sharon Farst, Chairman; Janice Gillespie, Past Chairman; Billie Simpson, Chairman-Elect; Diane Butler, District I Chairman; Tom Guyton, District I Vice Chairman; Judy Clark, District II Chairman; Ann Willard, District II Vice Chairman; Tamar Lisenby, District III Chairman; Julie Hill, District III Vice Chairman; Alice Hinger, District IV Chairman; Kay Weiss, District IV Vice Chairman; Don Pugh, Newsletter Co-Chairman; Sarajane Pugh, Newsletter Co-Chairman; Betty Caffey, Project Chairman; Fran Brazeal, Historian; and Teresa Stubblefield, Alabama Hospital Associa-tion Staff. Ms. Farst reported that she, along with Billie Simpson had visited several auxiliaries to include: Gadsden Regional Medical Center Auxiliary, Cullman Regional Medical Center Auxiliary, Athens-Limestone Hospital Auxiliary, Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center Auxiliary, Grove Hill Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and Southwest Regional Medical Center Auxiliary. During the visits, information was shared on the importance of attending district and state meetings, the value of membership in the ACHA, and time was spent answering questions and addressing issues a specific auxiliary might be facing. Ms. Farst shared that some of the auxiliaries visited were not familiar with the state board and its func-tion. She has also attended the District I meeting held in Huntsville and the District III meeting held in Selma. She also installed officers for the Vaughn Regional Medical Center Auxiliary, attended the Springhill Medical Center annual mem-bership meeting, the East Alabama Medical Center Auxiliary’s annual luncheon, and the appreciation luncheons held for Vaughan Regional Medical Center Auxiliary and Bryan Whitfield Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. She also met with the Greene County Hospital volunteers to assist them with organizing an auxiliary. YOU MAY ASKS, “WHEN DID SHE SLEEP?????” District I - Reported that the next District meeting would be May 6th at Decatur General Hospital. Tom Guyton had contacted 10 of the 14 auxiliary presidents in District I to remind them of the upcoming District meeting and tried other ways to improve attendance such as mailing invita tions, telephone contact, etc. District II - Reported that the next District meeting would be May 5th at Embassy Suites in B’ham with Children’s Hospital Auxiliary hosting. At the last meeting 14 of the 16 auxiliaries were pre sent. District III - Reported that the next District meeting would be June 11th at Coosa Valley Medical Center. Ms. Lisenby shared that she found that including a change of officer form in the District Meeting packet was helpful in getting changes made in a timely manner. District IV - Ms. Hinger reported that she was impressed with the camaraderie of the District group. She Reported several ideas for fundraisers and discussed topics of interest for meetings. It was discussed that many officers of auxiliaries do not have current ACHA Manuals, which aid in defining the roles of officers, committees, meeting agenda, etc. Therefore, it was suggested that a copy of the manual be added to the state web site. This suggestion has now been accomplished. THE MANUAL CAN NOW BE VIEWED ON THE STATE WEBSITE. Go to www.alaha.org , go to Affiliates then to Auxiliaries and you should be able to locate the Manual. From that you can read or print the document for your auxiliary officers, committees, etc. Don Pugh encouraged everyone to spread the word about the newsletter. Tell all your auxiliary members about the website and how to access copies of the Communicator online. Also, to send in information to his email address along with photos. Betty Caffey showed an infant t-shirt that reads “Naturally Sweet” which is distributed at parenting classes and samples of sugar free candy sold in their hospital gift shop. The following three motions were made and approved: 1. Continue with current conference format of Sunday through Wednesday. Proceed with securing a contract with Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham for the 2011 Fall Conference, booking for the three nights of Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and eliminating two meals (lunch and dinner) from the contract. 2. Increase attendee registration fees by the amount of $5.00, to include the cancellation fee, for the 2010 Fall Con-ference. 3. The motion was made to adopt Alzheimer’s disease/dementia as the 2010-2011 ACHA State Project. If there are questions, you may find answers by contacting your District Chairman or Vice Chairman. ACHA is always interested in your input, so contact your officers, Chairmen, Committee representatives or others and let us know ways to improve the organization by providing better leadership for volunteer auxiliaries across the state.

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Huntsville Hospital Auxiliary The highlight at Huntsville Hospital in the first quarter of the year was hosting the District One Auxiliary meeting. More then 75 Auxilians from area hospitals attended the meeting. Charles Purple, Auxiliary President and Burr Ingram, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations gave a warm greeting on the cold morning. Guest speaker, Dr. Jay Harrison, praised the Huntsville Hospital Auxiliary for the Rapid Tissue Processor that was donated by funds that were raised by the Auxiliary. This state of the art technology has enabled our lab at Huntsville Hospital, which is the 13th largest in America, to process a biopsy in one hour versus having to wait several days. He was also proud to announce that Huntsville Hospital won a National Award for Excellence in November 2009 which was largely attributed to the fact that we are one of the few hospi-tals that have this cutting edge technology. Auxilians also viewed many fascinating slides of various forms of cancer. We were also excited to have Sharon Farst, State Chairman and Billie Simpson, State Vice Chairman in attendance. Billie Simpson shared some great news for volunteers. She reported that studies show that volunteering actually adds 3.2 years to your life! A highlight of the morning was listening to many volunteers share personal heart-felt stories about the value and worth of volunteering. One member wrote in an email the next day…”the meeting was one of the nicest days she had ever spent with District One members.” After enjoying a catered meal from Covington’s and drawings for door prizes…Auxilians John and Betty Black took those visiting from area hospitals on a tour of our new Gift Shop on the main campus as well as a tram ride over to the Gift Shop at Women and Children hospital. It was a fun time we will all remember. Huntsville Hospital has embarked on a mission to create a service culture that will take our hospital from good to great and become one of the best hospitals in America! In order to achieve this goal, a group of Huntsville Hospital employees created the Power of Excellence curriculum representing a broad and practical view of the expectations and capabilities in service excellence. Because volunteers are a valuable team member at Huntsville Hospital and vital to its success, they asked all vol-unteers to take the interactive course entitled “You Make the Difference.” Everyone really enjoyed the class and came away excited and ready to embrace all that we learned. Huntsville Hospital has a total of 182 active Auxiliary members. the adult volunteers gave 6258.26 hours of service in the first quarter of the new year. Youth volunteers gave 386.06 hours for a total of 6644.32 for the quarter.

Highlands Medical Center Auxiliary We have 28 active members who have worked 1050 hours this last quarter. In February we had a used book sale where we did very well. We purchased an overhead projector and educational equipment for our education department at the costs of $4,782.00. At our March meeting, we had an informative demonstration of the new equipment. In April, we had a profitable jewelry sale with Fun Fashion Jewelry. To celebrate National Volunteer Week, we held a luncheon at Western Sizzlin, at this time our awards for years of service were presented. Jan Mulaney had the most years of service. She is moving to Birmingham and leaving us after being a member of the auxiliary for over 43 years. We also participated in the Presidential Awards Program. Four of our volunteers received a Bronze Award for working over 250 hours this year. Three Silver Pins were awarded for working 450 hours this year. One Life Time Pin was awarded for over 4000 total hours worked. Peggy Allen our Bingo gal and her helpers continue to have a weekly Bingo game in our Nursing Home. The Auxil-iary provides the prizes for the residents. We are looking forward to hosting the next District I meeting at Highlands Medi-cal Center in August. Sue Obenchain, President

District I AROUND THE STATE

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot

do.”do.” ~~~Eleanor Roosevelt~~~ ~~~Eleanor Roosevelt~~~

Have you sent new officers names and information to Teresa Stubblefield at ALAHA?Have you sent new officers names and information to Teresa Stubblefield at ALAHA? If NOT……………….Call Teresa at 1If NOT……………….Call Teresa at 1--800800--489489--2542!!!2542!!!

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District I AROUND THE STATE Helen Keller Hospital Auxiliary

“Volunteer of the Month” January, 2010 Doctor Kermit Mitchell was chosen Volunteer of the Month. He has been a volunteer at Helen Keller Hospital since 2001. Doctor Mitchell was a prominent physician in our community for many years before retiring. After his retirement, he continued to give back as a volunteer. His peers named Doctor Mitchell. Following are some comments about why he should be chosen as Volunteer of the Month: • “He is kind, helpful, and friendly to all.” • “he has a gracious personality” • “he presents himself well” • “he is well respected” • “He is hard working.” • Helen Edwards, his team leader, said “Dr. Mitchell is faithful in his work with us. He feels that his own Tuesday morning team and volunteers in general are also his family.” We thank Dr. Mitchell for all he has done for patients, the hospital and the community. Helen Keller Hospital Auxiliary Board members were at Huntsville Hospital on February 11. The quarterly Dis-trict I meeting was hosted there. Everyone enjoyed being with members of District I. Huntsville auxilians were wonderful hosts. We enjoyed hearing updates on the progress our hospitals are making as a result of the contributions made by volun-teers. The 2nd annual Mardi Gras luncheon and fashion show to benefit the Helen Keller Foundation was Thursday, Feb-ruary 11th, at Cypress Lakes Golf and Country Club. Attendees viewed vendor booths and enjoyed a cash bar. At noon, they enjoyed lunch and a fashion show. The Helen Keller Auxiliary support this event each year by providing a table of eight. Eight volunteers from the volunteer service were chosen to attend this event. Our physicians, staff and administration look forward to the annual Valentine Tea given by the volunteers. This year the tea was in the café’ February 12th, from 2:30-3:30 pm. Our volunteers always bring their favorite finger foods for this event. Approximately 300 staff attended. Helen Keller volunteers celebrate fifty years of service this year. The 50th year planning committee met February 17th. People serving on this committee were seeking information from all our volunteers as they remember their years of service in work, articles and pictures. Chairperson Erlene Kirkland placed our old yearbooks on a table for everyone to look through. There are many fond remembrances to talk about. Doris Gallaher, Editor

Children's Hospital hosted our District 11 President's Council Luncheon on May 5th at Ruth Chris Steak House. Stacy Huffman and Sherry Scarbrough did a wonderful job of making us all feel so welcomed. The table decorations were in keeping with the New Hospital that is being Built and hopes to be completed by late 2011. The Auxiliary bought toy trucks and earth moving equipment that was used as center pieces, filled with candy. We all had hard hats and bags to take the candy home with us. The toys will be given to the Hospital. Sherry Scarbrough, Director of Volunteer Services gave us a presentation on the progress of the new Children's Hospital. We in Alabama are so blessed to have such a wonderful facility in our State. Everybody loves children and wants to help them. They have over eight hun-dred volunteers. Brian Rodgers, Director of the Amelia Center gave a very moving presentation. The Amelia Center is a grief Counseling service is in support of grieving, hurting peo-ple. This is such a wonderful and needed program. We had several State Board members present. Sharon Farst, State Chairman, Ann Willard, District 11, Vice Chairman, Fran Brazeal, Historian, Don and Sara Jane Pugh, Newsletter Co-Chairmen. We all had a very special day. seeing a lot of dedicated, hard working people, Thank You for your hospitality. Judy Clark, District II

District II

Dr. Kermit Mitchell

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AROUND THE STATE District II Pickens County Medical Center Auxiliary Many times volunteers help the hospital in unexpected ways. Our main, daytime switchboard operator came to work one day with laryngitis. Arthur Duckworth, volunteer, normally assists with outpatient clinics and stations himself near the switchboard. On this day in March, he not only helped with our patients and visitors but he was the voice answering the switchboard and paging on the intercom. Some of our accomplishments during February, March, and April of 2010 were: 1. Our Gift Shop began staying open until 8:00 p.m. two nights a week. 2. We donated door prizes for the PCMC Foundation’s Valen-tine Banquet. 3. Our hospital partnered with the American Heart Association and sponsored a community fundraiser luncheon. Seven of our volunteers were of assistance. 4. A “roll over” toy dog was donated to our Senior Care Unit. 5. Diabetic literature had been ordered for distribution and was placed on display in our lobby. 6. The Gift Shop items were displayed in our booth at the City of Aliceville’s 26th annual Dogwood Festival. We were very successful with our sale and introducing customers to the things we have in our shop. 7. On Easter Sunday, tray favors were given to our patients. 8. Our quarterly auxiliary meeting was held April 28 and the hospital’s administrator presented information on past, present, and future plans for our facility. Students receiving our annual scholarship awards were present for recognition. 9. Several of our volunteers helped with PCMC Foundation and Relay For Life fundraisers. The Pickens County Medical Center Volunteers donated 2,670 hours of service during this time. We have sixty-three volunteers. Jeri Junkin, President

Bibb Medical Center Auxiliary Bibb had a very active quarter. To start, we had a Jew-elry Sale that went very well for our small Nursing Home. We also have been selling tickets for a very nice Mothers’ Day Basket we put together. We are going to try selling a Fathers’ Day Basket this year and will see how that goes. We are now selling “File of Life” packets that can be completed with vital information, then place on the refrigerator since it is magnetized and in case of emer-gency the information will be handy. It will provide places for emergency numbers, Doctors names, prescription medication in-formation, family contact information, etc. Sales have been very good of these packets. We have had two new members join this quarter. We do crafts the first Tuesday of every month and the patients really enjoy this activity. The Hospital and Nursing Home Staff gave the volunteers a very nice luncheon and a gift for Volun-teer Appreciation Week. Hattie Terry, President

DCH Regional Medical Center Auxiliary DCH added fourteen new adult volunteers during January, February, & March bringing our total to 303 active volunteers. Total volunteer hours for the quarter were 12,387. We held two fund raisers which were very successful - Britches and Bows (Children’s Clothing) and Just for You Clothing. The two volunteer programs of DCH Regional and Northport Medical Centers merged on January 15, 2010. The auxiliaries however will remain separate and will have separate fundraisers. The volunteer services departments have one director reporting to the VP of Human Resources. The annual re-orientation and TB test requirements were done in March for both campuses. Volunteers assisted with the “Bunnies for Babies” blood drive at both hospitals. Our Director and Volunteer Coordinators attended the ALSDVS Conference in Montgomery in February. Our Director and Gift Shop Coordinator went to the Atlanta market and we now have wonderful new merchandise in the shop which our volunteers have beautifully displayed. In February, the gift shop had a candy sale for Valentines Day, which was very popular with the employees. Tom Hill, President

Brookwood Medical Center Auxiliary Volunteers – The Heart of the Community!

New Volunteers

During the last quarter we had 1 new volunteers join our team at Brook-wood and had 7 college students for the winter semester.

Volunteers Hours The Brookwood Medical Auxiliary volunteer’s work hours for last quarter were 3,318 regular hours and 544.5 special project hours.

Pet Therapy Volunteers Our Hand-in-Paw pet therapy volunteers worked a total of 12 hours. They visit patients on many units in the hospital including Rehab, Oncology and

Cardiac Intervention.

Events In February, the Volunteers handed out over 980 Valentines to patients, visitors, staff, and physicians. The valentines brought a little cheer to all the patients who received one. In March, the volunteers gave out over 1,000 Shamrocks cards with candy on March 17 to patients, visitors, staff and physicians.

Fund Raisers

The Auxiliary’s fundraiser for the quarter was an extremely successful uniform sale that was held on February 16 & 17 with Uniforms 2U. The gross sales were $82,600.00 with the auxiliary’s commission being $14,900.00.

Projects We made 1,200 of tray favors for patients this quarter. They were deco-rated with a snowflake theme for January, a Valentine theme for February and a St. Patrick’s Day theme for March. Our ongoing projects include baby caps for newborns, mastectomy shirts for our Breast Care Bags, and heart pillows for open-heart surgery patients. Our volunteers gave out 726 note pad and pen gifts while visiting new patients. We delivered 50 “Happy Birthday” banners and small gift of note pad with a handmade cover and pen. We gave out 190 Mother/Baby nursing pillows to new moms with babies in the NICU. The auxiliary made a $1,000 donation to UAB’s Outreach Abroad program for one of Brookwood’s current college volunteers, Katie Rizzo. She is a nursing student at UAB and will be traveling to Costa Rica from May 9 – 16. The Outreach Abroad program is comprised of undergraduate stu-dents with backgrounds in medicine, dentistry and nursing who will be offering medical aid and health education to underprivileged families and children. The money will be used to cover some of Katie’s travel expenses. The volunteers have also been collecting medical and dental supplies that Katie will take with her to Costa Rica.

Teenage Volunteers We are in the process of interviewing 20 high school students for our Teen-age Volunteer Summer Program that begins on June 3 and lasts until July 30. We will also have 10 teens returning from last summer.

Valentine “Cupids” were Martha Hester, Sally Smith, Barbara Pemberton, Pat Pachta, Anne Brewer, Gayle Sadler, Janis Cole, Lynn Wallace and Carmen Ruesga - assisted by Becki Anderson, Volunteer Coordinator and Gwen Cochran, Volunteer Assistant.

Our Leprechauns were Deon Bookout, Joanna Holmes and Sally Smith with the staff of 2 Main.

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AROUND THE STATE District II

University Hospital Auxiliary/UAB Medicine/UAB Hospital The opening of the Women’s and Children’s Facility took place in February. Volunteers were involved in many of the opening events that were scheduled for the building. We are still involved in packing welcome gift packs for the new moms. Volunteer hours for this period Jan-March, 2010 are 1,432 hours. We have trained and placed 75 new volunteers this quarter. We have inter-viewed and placed 104 Teen volunteers who will work this summer in June and July. The Bravery Beads program continues to expand as beds in the RNICU have grown from 102 to 120. The Bravery Beads program was submitted to the American Hos-pital Association for their project of the year competition. The hospital has been notified that the BB program was selected as one of the top four out of 128 entries submitted this year. We will be notified later of our exact place-ment in this competition. Keep your fingers crossed……………..

St. Vincent’s East Auxiliary St. Vincent’s East Auxiliary has continued to achieve a goal of increasing membership by active recruitment. This quarter we have had seven new members oriented, trained and begun their duties. Our Director spoke at the Eastern Christian Women’s Luncheon which produced five new potential volunteers. Thanks to our Craft Group, patients at St. Vincent’s East had their day brightened by tray favors on Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter. Heart patients continue to benefit from the soft, comfortable pillow covers to hug when in pain or coughing. Volunteers spent time folding 600 tee shirts and then stuffing 600 goody bags for our annual Heart Day screening. The day of the event volun-teers rose early to be at the hospital by 5:30 a.m. to provide services. The General Membership approved the Board’s recommendation to change the style and color of the women’s uniform jacket. It will be a true pink color. Each auxilians will be given one free smock. This change will take place effective July 1, 2010. As the premier sponsor of St. Vincent’s East Camp Bluebird, a 2 1/2 day experience for adults with cancer, we once again sponsored the Spring session. For crafts of this Kentucky Derby themed session, volun-teers helped campers make fancy derby hats for the women and bouton-nieres for the men. The camp uses the facilities at Camp Sumatanga. Speakers at our general meetings were very diverse this year. Recently, “Shorty” Goodwin, a World War II and prisoner of war veteran gave a moving talk. At another meeting John Dooley of the Western Minis-tries informed us of the many different programs conducted by their organi-zation. National Volunteer Week commenced with members and guest attending the worship service at South Roebuck Baptist Church followed by lunch at the hospital. Banners and balloons saluting volunteers were seen throughout the hospital.

St. Vincent St. Clair Auxiliary During the past quarter our auxiliary has had 2 new members. We have 49 active members who worked a total of 2,425 hours. • Each shift volunteers tour the hospital with our Coffee Cart and give

out over 500 cups of coffee and tea to visitors. • Our Newsletter Editor mailed out 390 copies of the Auxiliary Update to

Associate, Patron and Honorary Members. • We made our annual contribution to the Relay for Life Cancer Drive. • We welcome our new COO at our hospital - Mr. Sean Tinney. For-

mer COO Terrell Vick is overseeing the construction of our new hospi-tal. On March 17th our auxiliary gave Mr. Vick an Appreciation Luncheon. He has supported our auxiliary 100% every day in every way.

• We had a Bake Sale-Fund Raiser on Good Friday which was a huge success. Hospital employees really look forward to this sale.

• Our members were treated to a CPR class given by the hospital which was very informative

• BEST OF ALL…..our Scholarship Committee finished their work and presented scholarships to 5 winners, each from different St. Clair high schools. Since beginning the scholarship program in 1997, our auxil-iary has given 55 scholarships for a total of $155,000. We are so proud of this program.

Shelby Baptist Medical Center Auxiliary During this quarter, an average of 66 volunteers gave 4,768.5 hours of service. We have 7 new members with 3 on medical leave and 2 having resigned. January was a slow month, mainly recovering from all the holiday activities. In February, we held another uniform sale with a nice profit. Two more candy machines were bought and placed in the new South Tower. An average of $260 is made monthly from the sales in these ma-chines. Valentine tray favors were made and distributed. Also, felt val-entine hearts containing M&M’s were made and sold with a profit of $196. In March, Easter Baskets were assembled and sold with a profit of over $1400. One hundred thirty three special orders were placed. One hundred twenty bunny suckers and over 60 small Easter baskets and other items were sold. A “Cake and Cupcake” sale was held with profits going to the March of Dimes. Volunteers were asked to donate un-iced cupcakes, then about 20 volunteers gathered to ice, decorate and bag/box them. The next day we sold them at various places in the hospital as well as taking them to a lot of hospital departments. $336.60 was made on this project. More than anything the volunteers enjoyed the camaraderie and getting to know others who work different days than they do. Eunice Stagner, President

Princeton Baptist Medical Center Auxiliary On February 2nd, we had our Volunteer Orientation with 6 new adult volunteers and 3 college volunteers joining our program. Also on February 3rd we had several volunteers to work our Blood Drive. We had a VolunteerLink Luncheon on Thursday, March 4th and all the volunteers brought dishes and everyone enjoyed the food, fun and fellowship. We had our monthly Volunteer Orientation where we gained 2 adult and 1 college volunteers to our program. On April 1st we had several volunteers to work the Blood Drive at Princeton. We had our second “Simply Just for You” clothing sale on April 6-7 and as always it was a great success. We celebrated National Volunteer Week on April 18-24. We had a lovely Appreciation Luncheon on Tuesday, April 20th at the hospital. We also got together each morn-ing for coffee and refreshments where we were given a ribbon and an insulated lunchbox. It was a GREAT WEEK!!!! Our DVS and Volunteer Coordinator along with our President and 2nd Vice President attended the SDVSHO Conference in Atlanta, GA. For February, March and April 2010 we had a total of 59 ac-tive volunteers who worked a total of 4,414 hours. Bobbie Dawkins, President

Northport Medical Center Auxiliary During the months of January, February and March, 2010, the Northport Medical Center Volunteer Auxiliary (NMCVA) donated approxi-mately 4,000 hours of service with an average of 40 volunteers participating each month. All our Auxiliary members were anxious and excited to begin the new year with a renewed attitude and the determination to make this our most produc-tive year for our hospital and our community. January is usually a time for plan-ning and organizing our events and fund raisers. We also kicked off travel fund raiser for the year by offering cruises in October to include Jamaica, Mexico and the Bahamas. These cruises have proven to be one of our best fundraisers. On February 18, 2010, we had our first combined meeting with DCH Regional Auxiliary. We shared a wonderful lunch along with our joint goals and ideas. Janie Hamner and Elisabeth Smelley were presented the “Volunteer Excellence Award” in recognition for their 10,000 hours of very appreciated service. During this meeting we appointed a committee to examine and update our By-laws with Alma Hankins as chairperson. Our Scholarship Committee was appointed with Marianne Bryan named chairperson. Our $1,000 scholarship will be presented in June. The nominating committee was formed consisting of Past President, Janie Hamner; Volunteer Manager, Gay Davis; Members-at-large, Patsy Nowell and Gladys Scarbrough; and Board member, Marianne Bryan, to present our new slate of officers. Our fundraiser for the month was Gold Buy-Back where we earned over $400 and Britches and Bows where we made over $500. Ann Peak, President, Northport Medical Center Volunteer Auxiliary

The Communicator Volume 22 Issue 3

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Children’s Hospital of Birmingham Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital Auxiliary had a visit from (Alabama Council of Hospital Auxiliaries) ACHA Chairman Sharon Farst and Chair-Elect Billie Simpson. They enjoyed seeing how the volunteers performed their daily duties. Some of the areas visited were the Information Desk, Gift Shop, Volunteer Office and the Clinic area where they got to see “Tootle Lou" and “Sweet Wild Thang” face painting children waiting to see the doctor or going home. After the short tour we went to the Volunteer office for a meeting where we talked about different ways to raise money (fund raisers) and the upcoming SDVSHO Annual Conference (Southeastern Directors of Volunteer Services in Health-care Organizations) to be held in Atlanta, GA. We also discussed this years ACHA Fall Conference which will be held in Mobile, AL at the Renaissance Riverview Plaza. The Auxiliary received a Cer-tificate of Appreciation thanking them for all they do. Thank You to Sharon and Billie for visiting Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital and Thank You for the Certificate of Appreciation. Thanks to Sherry Scarborough, Direc-tor of Volunteer Services for finding time to join in the meeting and for shar-ing her information. (THANKS SHERRY!!) Thanks to Howard & Frank for sharing their volunteer stories, “Funny” To all the Auxil-iary Board Members and to all the Volunteers and Volunteer Ser-vices……….Thanks for all you do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In 2009, 887 volunteers gave 34,000 hours of service. Volun-teer Services estimated the cash equivalent of those hours at around $568,140. They served 81 different areas of the hospital as Greeters, Patient Pals, Clowns, and other roles. The Auxiliary was able to donate $120,000 from fundraising sales back to the hospital to Child Life Family Services at the end of 2009. These funds serve programs such as Child Life and Educa-tion, Pastoral Care and the Amelia Center. There are more than 40 active Clown members at Chil-dren’s Hospital. Bill Thomas

AROUND THE STATE

District II

District III

Walker Baptist Medical Center Auxiliary During the months of January, February, and March, we welcomed 3 new volunteers. As of March 31, we had 67 ac-tive and 41 inactive volunteers. We have 2 Active Life Members and 21 Inactive Life Members. The volunteer hours for the 1st quarter were 4,772. During the first quarter we had a Uniform Sale which was quite successful. We also had a Bake and Slightly Used Book Sale. Our Bake and Book sale raised $650 to help send a child from Walker County to Camp Seale Harris (Diabetic Camp). Our annual In-Service was held on March 3rd and repeated on March 5th. We had 59 active volunteers attend. Topics covered were: HIPAA Update and Harassment presented by Pat Morrow, Director of Human Resources and Sharon Cam-eron, Risk Management; Signs and Symptoms of ACS (Acute Coronary Syndrome) presented by Cindy Arnold, Nurse Man-ager, and Moments of Truth presented by Renae McKinney, Director of Volunteer Services. “Moments of Truth” happen when we interact with visitors and patients. These moments have either a positive or negative impact. Our volunteers came up with ideas on ways to go beyond expected behavior. One idea was to up-date families in Surgery Waiting. We had a separate In-service with our Surgery Waiting attendants and we are now giving hourly up-dates to families. The families are anxious to receive these up-dates and they have expressed their appreciation to our volunteers. We are working on several other ideas from the meeting. A new service area has been established with our Cancer Center. We are providing clerical assistance there two days a week. Our auxiliary supplied 206 Walker Teddy Bears and 124 Teddy Bear Kits during the 1st quarter of 2010. Our Craft department made 240 tray favors during the 1st quarter. Pat Ferrell, President “Volunteers—Always Caring-Always Sharing”

Tamar Lisenby & friends at SDVSHO in Atlanta, GA.

Above: the Atlanta skyline, Below left: Gathering at the Vendors reception and Below middle: Wonderful workshops and speakers kept everyone’s interest.

Deadline for next Communicator is

August 11th

The Communicator Volume 22 Issue 3

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AROUND THE STATE District III

East Alabama Medical Center Auxiliary Spring is an exciting time in Opelika at East Alabama Medical Center. It is a time when we recognize and honor those Auxiliary volunteers who have gone above and beyond the minimum job requirements and to thank all the 300 plus vol-unteers who work tirelessly each year at EAMC. This year’s luncheon was held at The Marriott at Grand National and wel-comed 180 volunteers, guests and EAMC administrators. CEO Terry Andrus was unable to attend but spoke to the group via a video prepared in advance. The video consisted of EAMC staff from around the hospital who spoke to the group in thanks for their tireless devotion to community through EAMC. The guest speaker for the luncheon was Dr. Dennis Shannon, an Auburn University professor who was in Haiti when the recent earthquake hit. He shared pictures along with his experiences as a volunteer during the days following the aftermath. It was a testament to the heart of a volunteer. The board is currently in the process of planning for the 2010-2011 which begins October 1. Recently attending the SDVSHO Conference in Atlanta were EAMC Auxiliary President, Tamar Lisenby, and EAMC DVS, Mary Weaver. They returned with great ideas for encour-aging leadership participation and strategic planning for the upcoming group.

Chilton Medical Center Auxiliary The Chilton Medical Center Auxiliary has been very busy. All members were present to all meetings. Three pins were awarded: 3500 hours for Jean Woodfin, 1000 hours for Frances Johnson and 500 hours for Leora McCoy. Three new members received their 50 hour patch. The Auxiliary had new carpet installed in the gift shop. Frances Johnson was chosen to be in charge of the scrap book. We had a gold buying sale and it was very successful. The auxiliary purchased fire alarms for Home Health to provide to some of their patients and donated to the Relay for Life. The Auxiliary was treated to a luncheon, given by the Hospital to thank us for the work and dedication we give to the hospital, each member also received a plant. We had lunch at Vanessa McKinney’s home. We are raising funds to have a memorial garden planted at the hospital which will have tables, chairs, a gazebo and big pots of flowers, a place for families to go to relax when they have someone in the hospital. Lots of people in the commu-nity have volunteered to help.

“Always Caring, Always Sharing”

EAMC Volunteer of the Year - Chloe McAlister Rebecca Hamlet presents Chloe her VOY pin.

Ida Mae Armistead Health Career Scholarship - Johann Kucik (left) pre-sents award to Ravoli Polala

Teenage Volunteer of the Year was Sernita Johnson (brown dress) with her mother Marian Johnson.

The Communicator Volume 22 Issue 3

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AROUND THE STATE District III Russell Medical Center Auxiliary Russell Medical Center Auxiliary has really been busy – over 8,000 hours service in just six months. A visitor to the hospital will find a volunteer as soon as he walks through the front doors. Then other volunteers will be seen throughout the hospital and the Cancer Center. In February, Misty Anderson, Director of Education & Infection Control, was in charge of our educational meeting. Her topic was “Joint Commission Survey Readiness” and she explained to us about the survey process. In March, the Auxiliary voted to purchase needed items for the hospital. These items were three sleep chairs for Pe-diatrics, six DVD player for the nursery Breast Feeding Education and two oversized wheelchairs for hospital use. During the Volunteer Appreciation week in April, all volunteers were invited to a luncheon and given a gift in ap-preciation of volunteer service. New officers were elected and installed in May. These are as follows: (left to right) President – Flo McIntyre 1st VP – Fran Wilson 2nd VP – Myril Giddens Secretary – Carolyn Johnson Treasured – Lynda Kearse Summer is upon us. This will not slow our group down one bit. Remember to have a safe and enjoyable summer. Sarah Newman, Coordinator Volunteer Services

 

The ads that feature this now familiar phrase may elicit a giggle from people who have seen them over and over again. However, unexpected emergencies in the home are serious. For someone alone and in need of help, a personal response system is important - and may save his or her life. DCH Home Care offers DCH Lifeline, a personal response system used to summon help when needed any hour of the day or night for residents of Tuscaloosa, Hale, Pickens, Bibb, Greene and Fayette counties. The DCH Lifeline service includes a telephone unit and a help button that can be worn as a pendant or wristband. When pressed, the help button dials a Lifeline monitor available 24 hours a day 365 days a year. A monitor calls the Lifeline subscriber through the telephone system to learn what kind of help may be needed and then takes the appropriate action to get help to the home. DCH Lifeline has some new features. The new service now includes a reminder feature to remind sub-scribers to take their medication or to keep their doctor appointments. The reminder can be programmed from the user’s home or from the home of a loved one. A new cordless telephone system includes larger buttons that are easier to read and press and improved amplification on the handset or speakerphone. Additional speakerphones can be placed in other areas of a home to extend the voice range. This is ideal for two level or larger homes, allowing contact and two-way conversation when the user is away from the main telephone unit. To subscribe to Lifeline, or for more information contact DCH Home Health at 205-759-7010 or visit www.dchsystem.com/homecare.

Help, I’ve Fallen and can’t get up!!!!

Safe and Sound: Dale Spadoni, a DCH Volunteer who installs and maintains the DCH Lifeline units, said the many Lifeline subscribers he sees feel more secure in their homes knowing that they can call for help anytime of the day or night. They are also pleased that the experts at DCH Home Care are there to answer their questions about their units, he said.

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AROUND THE STATE District IV

Springhill Memorial Hospital Auxiliary February 18th was an important date for one of the Auxiliary’s largest community outreach projects. This was the day several of the twenty-eight new wheelchairs purchased by the Auxiliary were distributed to numerous hospital departments through the Wheelchair Round Up in the Breezeway area. Departments with damaged wheel chairs were able to exchange them for new ones and new wheelchairs were distributed to other needy departments.

The Auxiliary was pleased to be able to provide these chairs for the use of our patients at Springhill Memorial Hospital. This project was made possible through Ms. Celia Wallace (owner of SMC) and her generous contribution of the hospital’s Eclipsys 2009 President’s Award check. Color By Kids Art Competitions in both Mobile and Baldwin Counties are an annual community project for the SMH Auxiliary. The Auxiliary gives over $1,000 to this project each year to promote children’s artistic pursuits.

Lillian Dimartino, first place win-

ner in the K-grade 2 category of the Eastern Shore Color By Kids Art Competition

District IV Report District IV had a very exciting district meeting April 15, 2010, hosted by the hospital auxiliary of Atmore Community Hos-pital. We had good representation from the district. The auxiliary reports were very good and as district chairman I was excited about all the good things happening in our district. So much so that the board had to listen on Wednesday, April 21st to me rave about the good work being accomplished by our auxiliaries. Many of the auxiliaries are building goodwill among their mem-bers with social outings to visit places of interest as well as the tra-ditional “get-togethers” to eat. Programs were very diversified: cardio rehab training, self defense, wound care, and reviewing safety rules and procedures needed in their individual hospitals. The equipment provided during the last quarter in-cluded: Dietary Department equipment at Grove Hill Hospital; 28 new wheelchairs were purchased by Springhill Auxiliary with a grant given to them recently; Memory boxes were presented to the neonatal intensive care unit at USA Children’s & Women’s; and North Baldwin in Bay Minette provided framed pictures and lamps for patient rooms. North Baldwin also purchased a Dia-mond Sponsorship table during their city’s annual gala to raise funds for the Radiology room of their hospital. Thomas Hospital, Fairhope, held a special project providing 51 filled book bags for the Baldwin County Child Advocacy Center. Providence Hospital held a “60th Auxiliary Anniversary” during their hospital’s recent Festival of Flowers. Nine former auxiliary presidents were hon-ored. The list goes on and on, and I am sure I will forget some-thing one of our hospitals has done or provided for their hospital. But at the risk of forgetting something, I again had to rave about the good works of District IV. Our next district meeting will be held August 11, 2010, at USA Medical Center, Mobile. Reported by: Alice Hinger, District IV

District III Wedowee Hospital Auxiliary The Wedowee Woman’s Study Club held a “Walk-A-Mile” on Saturday, March 27th. The Wedowee hospital auxil-iary was one of the sponsors of the event. The Study Club do-nated 80 % of the proceeds from the walk to the auxiliary for the hospital restroom renovation. The auxiliary ordered 100 first aid kits to try as a fund raiser and has sold all of them. The compact size makes them perfect for the car or boat. More of these kits may be ordered in the future. At the March general meeting of the auxiliary, several board positions were filled for the upcoming year. Sharon McKeone will be the vice-president, Karen Brunner will be sec-retary, Beverly Bishop will be treasurer, Connie Parker will be registrar, Dean Loworn and Martha Crawford will be the mem-bers-at-large. The auxiliary is sponsoring a boat in the Cardboard Boat Race to be held on May 22nd on Lake Wedowee. Auxiliary members have built their boat, named “Tickled Pink”, and it will be powered by Beverly Commander and Sharon McKeone. There are 40 boats entered in the race. The auxiliary will also have a bake sale at the race site. It sounds like a fun and exciting day. On Friday, May 7th, the Wedowee Hospital hosted a luncheon in recognition of Hospital/Volunteer week. All hospi-tal employees, clinic staff and auxiliary members were invited. The meal was delicious and it was a time for relaxed fellowship. The auxiliary has opened a small gift shop kiosk in the lobby of Wedowee Hospital. There is a lot of enthusiasm and hopes that the gift shop will be a successful venture. Beverly Bishop

District IV

(ABOVE) President, Clara Damp, with Ingra Jack-son and Melvin Langley, two winners of awards for bringing in wheelchairs for replacement.

(RIGHT) Clara Damp and Robert Stevens pushing Sarah Hill and Etta Mar-tin who were testing new wheelchairs.

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AROUND THE STATE

District IV North Baldwin Infirmary

The 2010 Gala was held at North Baldwin Infirmary and our Auxiliary partici-pated by purchasing a Diamond Sponsorship in the amount of $2500 to con-tribute to the ER Radiology Room - Phase I. Dorothy White, Guest Relations

This Blank Box is Reserved This Blank Box is Reserved for Hospitals that did not send for Hospitals that did not send

information about their information about their Auxiliaries. Auxiliaries.

It has nothing to do with the It has nothing to do with the Auburn Tigers!!Auburn Tigers!!

XX

Opening Ceremony was “Presentation of the State Flags” Sharon Farst, ACHA Chairman is shown in forefront (Green jacket)

SDVSHO Southeastern

Directors of Volunteer in Healthcare

Organizations

Atlanta, GA The Westin-Peachtree Plaza

April 29-May 1, 2010

Workshops, Banquets, Vendors, Networking with 13 southern states, sharing ideas.

The Communicator Volume 22 Issue 3

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AROUND THE STATE

District IV Greetings from USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital! Spring is here… and the Hospital and our volunteer program are in bloom!!! In March, the Auxiliary held its first general meeting of the year. We met new volunteers and recruited for special committees. Special Sales events: February 8 & 9: Books are Fun March 29 & 30: Masquerade Jewelry March-Easter: Spring Baskets We celebrated Volunteer Week, April 18-24. Celebration post-ers with volunteer names and service hours were posted in the Lobby. Volunteers received a manicure kit with a special note- “USACWH Vol-unteers: Hands that Serve... Hearts that Care! Make time to care for yourself!” We celebrated the more than 110 volunteers who served the hospital (May 2009- March 2010), giving a total of 16,302 hours. Special “thank you” to all of our volunteers and to our volunteer part-ners including Foster Grandparents, Goodwill Easter Seals, RSVP, SHC-Foley Center and USA CP200 students. The Volunteer Pinning Ceremony and luncheon is set for May 14 to coincide with Hospital Week celebrations. In April, the Hospital hosted a Car Sear Check-Up event. Sev-eral volunteers including Mamye Nichols and Mary Thomas, who vol-unteer in the NICU and Mother Baby Units, served as ”scribers” during this important community event. The summer teen volunteer program kicks-off with their orien-tation on June 2; the program will last until July 23. Special Projects: The Auxiliary provides the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) memory boxes for families who have lost a baby. The Aux-iliary purchased boxes, made labels and delivered boxes to the NICU. As the ACHA project chair, I continue to network with auxilia-ries regarding their diabetes awareness and education initiatives, look-ing for activity ideas to circulate among ACHA members. At USA Chil-dren’s & Women’s Hospital, we continue to work with our lactation consultants to promote breastfeeding (emphasizing the benefits in-cluding reducing diabetes; see my article in this issue). In our Gift Shop, we now carry sugar-free candy. The “naturally sweet” newborn t-shirts and brochures will soon be ready for distribution at parenting classes. Please send me any updates on your Auxiliary’s state project initiative for diabetes so we may exchange ideas with all Auxiliaries. USACWH Volunteers: 102 Teenage- 28 College- 41 Adult- 33 Betty Caffey

USACWH Auxiliary President USACWH held a “Baby Seat Check-up” to insure proper installation of car seats and to provide other safety tips to new Moms.

USA Medical Center The University of South Ala-bama Medical Center Auxiliary will proudly host the next District IV meeting in August. The Masquerade Experience the Frenzy $5.00 Jewelry and Accessory Sale held in April was a huge success in sales and profits for the Auxiliary. This month the Auxiliary proudly show-cased another dedicated Auxilians - Mrs.

Mary Ferry. Mary, a native of New York came to the Uni-versity of South Alabama Medical Center in 1996. She volun-teered in the area for Day of Surgery admission. She served the Board as Secretary for many years. Mary is a widow. She is a mother, grandmother and great grandmother and enjoys her family who bring her great joy. Several of the board members surprised Mary at her new residence, Atria Regency Center for seniors with a catered lunch. She was so excited and appreciated the visit, the lunch, and beautiful flowers that were pre-sented to her. A memory book of pic-tures of the days’ activi-ties as well as a few past activities was sent to her.

Following the District IV meeting, the Auxiliary met to com-plete plans for the upcoming Nurses’ Day project. The board presented a beautiful blue ribbon imprinted with “Nurses Day” to all the nurses. The Gift Shop will get a boost when Claudnette McGrew, DVS, returns form the market in July.

Standing: Claudnette McGrew, DVS, Linda Mauer,

Ila Hollester, and Mary Steven-son

Seated is Mrs. Mary Ferry

Standing: Linda, Ila, Mary and Constance

Taylor Sitting: Mrs. Terry

“a smile is the best gift you can give!”

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Marshall Medical Center North Auxiliary

ACHA Officers and Committees 2009-2010

Chairman Sharon Farst Bryan Whitfield Memorial Hospital Demopolis, AL 334-289-8518 Chair Elect Billie Simpson Marshall Medical Center North Arab, AL 256-931-6840 Historian Fran Brazeal DCH Regional Medical Center Northport, AL 205-339-3094 Newsletter Don & Sarajane Pugh DCH Regional Medical Center Tuscaloosa, AL 205-462-3374 Gift Shop Patricia Henry Marshall Medical Center North Arab, AL 256-586-8416 Program Beverly Commander Wedowee Hospital Lineville, AL 256-396-2446 AlaHa/ACHA Liaison Teresa Stubblefield AlaHA Montgomery, AL 1-800-489-2542 District I Chair Diane Butler Marshall Medical Center North Guntersville, AL 256-571-8010 Dist. I Vice Chair Tom Guyton Decatur General Hospital Hartselle, AL 256-773-5300 Dist. II Chair Judy Clark St. Vincent’s East Trussville, AL 205-655-5467 Dist. II Vice Chair Ann Willard DCH Regional Medical Center Tuscaloosa, AL 205-553-3974 Dist. III Chair Tamar Lisenby East Alabama Medical Center Opelika, AL 334-749-6828 Dist. III Vice Chair Julie Hill Medical Center Barbour Eufaula, AL 334-616-0452 Dist. IV Chair Alice Hinger Thomas Hospital Spanish Fort, AL 251-626-9697 Dist. IV Vice Chair Kay Weiss Providence Hospital Mobile, AL 251-460-2898 Appointed Committees: Nominating - Janice Gillespie, Billie Simpson, Tom Guyton, Ann Willard, Kay Weiss, Julie Hill Budget - Billie Simpson, Alice Hinger, Tamar Lisenby, Ann Willard Project - Betty Caffey Program - Beverly Commander, Alice Hinger, Kay Weiss, Judy Clark By-laws - Judy Clark, Dean McCormack Web Page - Janice Gillespie Historian - Fran Brazeal Gift Shop - Patricia Henry Newsletter - Don & Sarajane Pugh Awards - Fran Brazeal, Tamar Lisenby, Diane Butler, Betty Caffey, Tom Guyton

The Communicator Volume 22 Issue 3

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Don & Sarajane Pugh, Editors The Communicator, ACHA 762 Cambridge Lane Tuscaloosa, AL 35406

June 16thJune 16th ACHA Board Meeting, Montgomery, ALACHA Board Meeting, Montgomery, AL August 11thAugust 11th Deadline for the Communicator NewsletterDeadline for the Communicator Newsletter August 18thAugust 18th ACHA Board Meeting, Montgomery, ALACHA Board Meeting, Montgomery, AL Sept. 30Sept. 30--Oct. 03Oct. 03 AHVRP Conference, Hyatt Regency, AHVRP Conference, Hyatt Regency, St. Louis, MOSt. Louis, MO October 17 October 17 -- 20 20 ACHA Fall ConferenceACHA Fall Conference Renaissance Riverview Plaza, Mobile, ALRenaissance Riverview Plaza, Mobile, AL November 10thNovember 10th Deadline for the Communicator NewsletterDeadline for the Communicator Newsletter

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