ALTOONA – There are more than 600 active volunteers working throughout UPMC Altoona, and these people, ranging in age from 14 to 95, gave a total of 86,107 hours of their time in 2013.
UPMC Altoona will celebrate them the week of April 6-13, National Volunteer Week.
They’re recognizable by their blue jackets and “volunteer” badges. They greet anyone entering the hospital or Station Medical Center (SMC). They provide assistance, directions and escorts to visitors.
They answer the phones, assemble charts, discharge patients, stuff envelopes and help with filing and paperwork. They clean wheelchairs, knit baby hats, deliver meals, transfer patients and deliver charts and lab specimens.
Friends, the auxiliary volunteer group, raises money to support the unbudgeted needs of hospital departments through fundraisers and the operating and staffing of the UPMC Altoona and SMC gift shops.
Volunteers are appreciated year-round, but one week each year is set aside as a reminder to truly recognize and celebrate their hard work.
Throughout the week, Volunteer Services will provide refreshments for volunteers, and each one will receive a small thank-you gift. Award pins will be given to volunteers reaching milestones in hours served; the highest milestone for this year is 25,000 hours by Maggie Klesius.
