Northern celebrates National Health Care Volunteer Week

From Northern Montana Health Care

April 7 to 13 is National Health Care Volunteer Week and Northern Montana Health Care is proud to celebrate their volunteers.

A celebratory luncheon for the volunteers is set for Friday, as well as a recruitment event for the community.

President Richard Nixon established National Volunteer Week with an executive order in 1974, as a way to recognize and celebrate the efforts of volunteers. Since then, the original emphasis on celebration has widened; the week has become a nationwide effort to urge people to get out and volunteer in their communities. Every April, charities, hospitals, and communities recognize volunteers and foster a culture of service.

At NMHC the NMH Volunteer Auxiliary is going strong. The services and amenities they provide to the organization help the overall experience at NMHC immensely. From delivering coffee to visitors on the Medical/Surgery floor to sending greeting cards to all of the residents at the Northern Montana Care Center; from playing bingo with a NMCC resident to stocking and staffing two gift shops on campus; these folks volunteer their time and talents to make these things happen.

“We truly appreciate the efforts of our NMH Volunteers daily” Northern Montana Health Care CEO Dave Henry said. “Their presence here allows us to provide the “Extras” in healthcare. The years of experience they bring to their tasks helps us to maintain a level of professionalism.

“We enjoy the volunteers that light up our halls during the summer months as well,” Henry added.

Wednesday at 6 p.m. an open house is set for for the volunteer program to provide the community with more information about the needs that they have.

“We have volunteers that work for us just a few hours a month” said Mim Tchida, volunteers supervisor at NMHC. “We also have volunteers that come in several days a week. The level of involvement is entirely up to them.

“We’re looking to expand our program so that more folks can experience the joy of volunteering,” she added.

In addition to helping with the gift shops and foot clinics at NMH, volunteers provide assistance with activities at the long term care facility as well. Whether community member have extra time during the day or on the weekends, the volunteers would love to have them participate.

To find out more, people can attend the Volunteer Recruitment Event Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Conference Rooms 3a, b & c at Northern Montana Hospital.

For more information on volunteering, people can call Tchida at 262-1330.