Wisconsin Association of Directors of Volunteer Services
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
September 2005
President’s Message
Kerry Burmeister, President
Inside this issue:
Past President’s Report
2
Northwest Regional Report
3
Northeast Regional Report
3
Southeast Regional Report
3
Southwest Regional Report
3
Congratulations
3
WADVS Scholarships
3
Dates to Remember
3
Northwest Regional Mtg
4
Management Seminar
4
Appreciate Volunteers
4
Can You Believe This?
4
Ask the Directors
5
WADVS Board
18
It is hard to believe that
the kids are returning back to
school and that fall is quickly
approaching. I have included
with my article – “The Ten
Commandments for Parents”,
Author Unknown - as many of
us are sending our children or
grandchildren back to school.
As many of us are going
about our daily routines – just
as last year - many of our
colleagues from across
Wisconsin and down South are
living in devastation. Please
keep them in your thoughts as
they begin and continue to
rebuild their lives.
During the Annual
ASDVS Conference held in
Minneapolis, MN, September
18-21, our own Lori Van Lin
was installed as a Board
Member on the Committee of
Nominations. Based on the
close proximity of this year’s
conference – it sounds like
Wisconsin was well represented
to show our support.
Congratulations Lori as you
embark on this exciting new
role.
1
We will be having our
WADVS Meeting and
Conference at the Heidel House
on October 3-4. This Year’s
Theme is “Getting Together and
Staying Informed.” Our Annual
Membership Meeting will be
held during lunch on Monday,
October 3rd. We will be
running through the annual
reports of each committee’s
accomplishments over the last
year. At the end of the meeting
we will be holding our
Elections and Installation of
Officers for the 2006 Board of
Directors. If you are unable to
attend this meeting, please
contact Lori Van Lin to do a
proxy vote. We hope that all of
you are able to make it –
Yolanda Voigt has put together
a wonderful conference that will
give each of us the opportunity
to learn from the experts but
also from each other, including
information from the National
Conference.
The WADVS Board has
been working hard on the
strategic plan that was
established at our planning
meeting in January 2004. We
have made great progress on the
action items identified for each
of them:
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
#1 Clarification of Board of Directors Roles and
Responsibilities
#2 Membership Development
#3 Enhance Communication Avenues
#4 Enhance Educational Opportunities
A special Thank You to the Board, for all of
your hard work and dedication to continue to make
WADVS a growing and prosperous professional
organization. There are times throughout the Board
terms that we need to fill vacant positions, if you
are interested in becoming a future member of the
Board, please contact either myself or Lori Van Lin.
On behalf of the WADVS Board –we hope
to see each of you at the Annual Meeting and
Conference in October.
Kids need time away from parents, just like
parents need it from kids. Besides, it shows us
that your marriage is something special.
(10)Take me to God’s house and introduce me to
Him, because I’ll need Him for the rest of my
life.
Past Pres. Report
Lori Van Lin,
Immediate Past President/ Affiliate Liaison
A reminder of the remaining 2005 state
conferences:

Ten Commandments for Parents
Author Unknown
“…CHILDREN ARE GOD”S BEST GIFT”…
PSALM 127 : 3
If you’re a parent, read this. Better yet, keep
it where you can read it regularly:
(1) My hands are small, don’t expect perfection
whenever I make a bed, draw a picture, or throw
a ball. My legs are short; slow down so that I
can keep up with you.
(2) My eyes have not seen the world as yours have;
let me explore it safely; don’t restrict me
unnecessarily.
(3) Make time for me. Housework will always be
there; I’m little only once.
(4) I have feelings too; don’t nag me about
inquisitiveness. Treat me as you’d like to be
treated.
(5) I’m a gift; treasure me as God intended. Hold
me accountable, give me guidelines to live by,
discipline me with love.
(6) I need encouragement to grow, not empty
praise. Go easy, you can correct the things I do
without putting me down.
(7) Give me the freedom to make decisions, even if
they’re not always right. Permit me to fall, so
that I can learn to walk.
(8) Don’t do things repeatedly for me; that makes
me feel like my efforts don’t measure up to your
expectations. And don’t compare me with
others; I’m me, not them.
(9) Don’t be afraid to leave for a weekend together.

WADVS Fall Conference will be held
October 3-4 in Green Lake at the Heidel
House Resort.
The Partners of WHA State Conference for
2005 will be October 4–6 in Green Lake at
the Heidel House Resort.
Recently we had the opportunity to be
involved with important work at a state-level related
to volunteers and hospital guidelines for mass
casualty events. In April of this year, Wisconsin
Hospital Association drafted a Hospitals' Guide for
Mass Casualty Events document. WHA recruited
healthcare professionals to join workgroups
established to provide feedback on the document
and participate in discussion about the guidelines.
Kerry Burmeister, Tammy Behnke and I
participated in the HCW (Healthcare Workers)
Volunteer Workgroup and Lay Volunteers
Workgroup. This is our area of expertise and it was
very important to be involved proactively in the
guidelines of this document as it relates to
volunteers. My thanks to Kerry and Tammy for
their participation in this endeavor.
As we reviewed this document -- news of
Hurricane Katrina’s devastation was constant, and a
vivid reminder of our responsibility to this work.
Our thoughts and prayers reach out to all who have
been touched by this tragedy.
2
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
Northwest Regional Report
2005 WADVS Scholarships
No Report.
There were four (4) applications for scholarship
dollars in 2005. At the Board of Directors planning
meeting in April, applications were presented and a
vote was taken with scholarships awarded as
follows:
 Amy Brownson was awarded scholarship
dollars to be applied towards the cost of the
National Conference in September.
 Susan Schoolman was awarded scholarship
dollars to be applied to the cost of
registration for the WVCTI Spring
Conference and one nights lodging.
The scholarship structure is as follows:
 Each year two scholarships will be awarded
in the first quarter of the year, to be applied
to one of three continuing education options
during the course of the year;
 Scholarships will be awarded through the
current application process; and
 Scholarship dollars may be applied in one of
three ways:
o Towards the cost of registration and one
night’s lodging for either the spring or
fall conference (not to exceed $200); or
o Towards the cost of attending the
national conference; or
o Towards the cost of CAVS (certified
administrator of volunteer services)
accreditation.
Congratulations to the 2005 awardees! Be on the
lookout for 2006 scholarship forms and information
in the New Year.
Congratulations
Dates to Remember
Vicky Zehms, Northwest Regional Chair
The Northwest Regional group has been
trying all year to meet, but due to snow storms and
other conflicts, our March and June meetings had to
be cancelled. We are trying once again to meet on
Friday, October 31st at St. Joseph’s in Marshfield.
Jean Doty is stirring up some Halloween fun for us.
Prizes for best costume will be awarded, so start
planning ahead. You should receive official
invitations soon. If you do not receive an invitation
and would like to attend, please contact Jean Doty
at St. Joseph’s in Marshfield or Vicky Zehms at
Luther Midelfort in Eau Claire.
Northeast Regional Report
Cheryl Windbiel, Northeast Regional Chair
No report.
Southeast Regional Report
Sherry Tietz, Southeast Regional Chair
No report.
Southwest Regional Report
Sally Cupery, Southwest Regional Chair
WADVS Fall Conference
Oct 3-4, 2005, Heidel House Resort, Green Lake
Congratulations to Lori Van Lin who was elected
to serve on the American Society of Directors of
Volunteer Services (ASDVS) Board-Nominations
Committee. Way to go, Lori!
Partners of WHA State Conference
Oct 4-6, 2005, Heidel House Resort, Green Lake
Membership Changes
WADVS Northwest Fall Regional Meeting
Oct 31, 2005, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Marshfield
If you know of any changes to the
membership list, please contact Pam at
715-361-2875 or email at pkaroli@shsmh.org to
update the newsletter mailing list. Thank you!
3
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
Northwest Regional Meeting
How to Appreciate Volunteers
Submitted by Jean Doty
Mark your calendars for the Fall WADVS
Northwest Regional Meeting.
Date: Monday, October 31, 2005
Time: 9:30 am to 2:30 pm
Place: Saint Joseph’s Hospital Board Room
611 Saint Joseph Ave.
Marshfield, WI 54449
You and your gift shop manager are invited.
We’ll meet and greet then split into two groups to
network.
Since it’s Halloween, we’re going to have a
“costume” meeting. (Yes, there will be a meeting,
but we’ll do a little partying, too.) So get out your
favorite Halloween costume and put it on for the
day!
As always, this promises to be a worthwhile,
educational and fun meeting.
If you would like to email your networking
questions/concerns/problems/issues, please direct
them to dotyj@stjosephs-marshfield.org.
1. Smile.
2. Be sincere in your praise/thanks.
3. Treat them to a soda.
4. Praise them in front of others.
5. Send a birthday card.
6. Keep them busy.
7. Give them “valued” work to do.
8. Take time to talk & listen.
9. Be pleasant.
10. NEVER waste their time.
11. Respect their suggestions.
12. Write "thank you" notes.
13. Keep challenging them.
14. Invite them to staff coffee breaks.
15. Say, "Good Morning."
16. Take time to evaluate their work.
17. Greet them by name.
18. Enable them to grow in their service.
19. Take time to explain.
20. Say "we missed you" when they're absent.
21. Give additional responsibility.
22. Provide adequate orientation.
23. Create pleasant surroundings
24. Help them develop self-confidence.
25. Say "THANK YOU!"
Volunteer Mgmt Seminar
Vernon County’s first Volunteer
Management Seminar and Volunteer
Recruitment Fair
Date:
Thursday, October 13
Time:
10 am to noon, speaker
2-6 pm, volunteer recruitment fair
Place:
Western WI Technical College
220 S. Main St.
Viroqua, WI
Cost:
$5—lunch is on your own
Presenter
Holly McDonough, Director of Gift
Planning for Saint Mary’s University
of Minnesota
If you have questions or request a brochure, please
contact Judy Gilbertson at Vernon Memorial
Healthcare, Viroqua, at 608-637-4327 or email at
jgilbertson@vmh.org. You can also request a
brochure from Martha Hoffland at 608-637-8357.
Space is limited to 50. Registration is due by
October 3.
What:
Can You Believe This?
Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul), (6/16)
Minnesota Hospital’s Flower Fee Plan Draws
Fire, Dropped
A plan by United Hospital in St. Paul, MN,
to implement a $5 charge on each delivery of
flowers to patients to offset the cost of supervising
volunteers who deliver the flowers, drew so much
negative response yesterday that the hospital
decided to drop the idea. The decision elicited
relief from area florists, and hospital officials say
they will meet with the local floral association to
work out other potential plans.
4
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
We do have an NICU. No volunteers have
assignments within this department, but our
Auxiliary has a wonderful project that provides
handmade quilts to cover the isolettes. These quilts
help simulate day and night for the babies since the
bright lights are always on in the rooms. These
different colored quilts also help brighten the space,
and they allow parents to immediately recognize
where their baby’s isolette is in the room. (The
nurses often move isolettes around for various
reasons.) The family takes the quilt home with
them. The tag sewn on the quilt says “Made with
Tender Loving Care by the Women of the
Auxiliary.” Both the NICU staff as well are the
parents have been much appreciative of this effort.
Carol Richards.
Beaver Dam does not have an NICU.
Sally Cupery
We have an NICU department, and we do utilize
volunteers there; however, it is a three-part
assignment with Mom/Baby and Pediatrics. The
volunteers do clerical, restocking of supplies,
errand running, limited rocking of babies, etc.
Kerry Burmeister
All Saints Healthcare in Racine is the same as
Columbia-Saint Mary’s.
Cynthia Clemens
Ask the Directors
If you have any questions
with which you would like the
membership’s help, please contact
Pam at 715-361-2875 or email at
pkaroli@shsmh.org to have the questions printed in
the next newsletter.
Membership responses to the questions are
welcome and will be shared in Dialogue with the
Directors for the benefit of all WADVS members.
“We are planning on opening a newborn
intensive care unit (NICU). Do any of your
hospitals/groups have a unit, and if so, does the
volunteer organization work with those areas?”
We do have an NICU at Waukesha Memorial
Hospital. We do not use volunteers in that unit.
The only connection we have with them is that we
make quilts for the infants in the unit. They use the
quilts when they hold the baby, and when the baby
goes home, the quilt goes with them.
Cheryl Whiteford
We don’t have an NICU.
Amy Brownson
We do not have an NICU.
Rosemary Simonson
We just placed a volunteer in NICU to rock babies
on an as-needed basis. The only reason we started
this is the volunteer is a retired RN from the
birthing center, and the NICU nurse manager felt
comfortable with her doing this as a volunteer.
Jean Doty
We don’t have an NICU.
Sherri Vetter
I have volunteers in my NICU. They cover the
evening hours of 4-8 pm when we do not have a unit
clerk in that area. They man the door and buzz
people into the unit, checking to see that they
belong there. They also stock supplies, put together
paperwork, run errands, etc. They do not have any
physical contact with the babies in order to not
have that potential exposure to body fluids.
Renee Trzebiatowski
“We have a gift shop volunteer who refuses to
have a Rubella immunization. It seems she feels
that this injection will cause her to become a
vegetable. It looks like now she will not be able
to work in the gift shop any longer because of
this since she has direct patient contact. Has
anyone else had this problem?”
We have also had this problem, but unless they have
the TB, our volunteers are not allowed to work in
the hospital setting, including the gift shop.
Yolanda Voigt
We haven’t had this situation, but our policy here is
that if they test non-immune, then we have the
obligation to notify them. Then they have to decide
if they want the immunization or not. If they decide
to get it, they have to make arrangements to get it
from their physician. It would not preclude them
from volunteering if they decided not to get it.
Vicky Zehms
5
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
At our facility, if they refuse to have the
immunization we cannot allow them to volunteer.
Amy Brownson
How old is this volunteer? Directions from our
employee health department is that if volunteers are
born before 1957 they don’t have to have proof of
rubella.
Susan Senglaub
The volunteers at AMC are required to have the
rubella immunization. If they do not have proof, the
Employee Health office draws blood to see if they
need the immunization. If they need it, they are
expected to receive this at their physicians office at
their own cost. If they refuse to have this done, they
are not able to volunteer.
Judy Lamers
Columbia-Saint Mary’s is the same as AMC.
Kerry Burmeister
I have not had this problem, but I can certainly
empathize with you. I’m assuming this person was
in the gift shop before you did the health
assessment. The only way to avoid a situation like
this is to make sure all volunteers have a health
assessment and are cleared by your employee
health department at the “get-go” before placing
them. Every year we take on 35 new teens and they
are always a few who are non-immune to
something. They have to be placed in an area with
no patient contact until they are vaccinated. If they
choose not to get the vaccination, they continue to
be placed in departments/units with no patient
contact. If parents are hesitant to have their child
receive the immunizations, I stress our concern is
not only for our patients, but also that we don’t
want the teen volunteers to become sick either.
Jean Doty
Volunteers must complete their lab work before they
can start. If the volunteer balks at the lab work,
they cannot volunteer at our hospital. When the
health nurse notifies us of lack of immunity, we
advise the volunteer to check with their health
provider.
Sherri Vetter
I would refer her to your employee health
department, and they can explain why she needs it
done or not done. It is required. Sometimes
because of her age, she could be grandfathered out
of this requirement. It is up to employee health and
infection control. If they say that she can’t
volunteer, then that is the rule. I do explain to my
volunteers that we are in a hospital setting, and the
state requires this.
Rosemary Simonson
It is in our healthcare system’s official policy book
that all employees and volunteers be checked for
immunization to Rubella, no matter what area they
work in. If a volunteer is found not to have
immunity, the employee health nurse informs
him/her of this and tells the volunteer that he/she
must receive this immunization from their own
doctor or health department at the expense of the
volunteer. This happens very seldom, but once in a
while, when it does occur, the volunteer’s doctor
sends me a letter saying because of the age of the
volunteer, he/she does not feel it is necessary for
this person to now be immunized. Our employee
health nurse accepts this and files this letter in the
volunteer’s health folder. Maybe your volunteer
can go through her doctor to get this kind of waiver.
Carol Richards
At Beaver Dam Community Hospital, if a person
tests non-immune to Rubella, I inform that
volunteer. They are then requested to see their
doctor and receive the immunization at their
expense. If they choose not to, they can still
volunteer, but I do make a point to remind them of
the hazard of doing so. I also note in their folder
that they have been informed of this.
Sally Cupery
Ours are required. They have blood drawn to
measure levels of immunity. If they need a booster,
they are offered it free of charge from employee
health.
Connie Herrick
All volunteers have an initial blood draw to see if
they need the immunization. If they need it, they are
provided this at our cost. If they choose to have
their own physician do it, they pay the fees. Either
way, if they refuse to have this done, they are not
able to volunteer.
Cynthia Clemens
6
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
“What is the procedure for volunteers at your
main reception when salespeople, contractors, or
other people) other than those who are coming to
visit inpatients) come in to see someone on staff?
Currently, salespeople come in our main
entrance, sign-in, take a visitor’s badge and go
off to see who they are here to see. If they are
unfamiliar with our facilities, the volunteer may
take them when they need to go or they’ll call the
person to be seen. We do not check any
credentials (business cards, etc.) to be sure these
people are who they say they are. My Lobby
Reception volunteers are being very proactive in
wanting to get some new procedures in place
before our move to our new facility. Please let
me know what your facility does to insure
patient and staff safety.”
There are NO salesmen allowed to go to any
department unless they have an appointment. The
volunteers at our Info Desk then phone the
appropriate department to verify the salesman’s
appointment with the staff.
Sue Gering
Our volunteers send the vendor, etc., to the front
desk, and they check to see if they have an
appointment or if the staff person they want to see
will see them. We don’t usually send them off
looking for the person they want to see or have them
wandering around the halls. The salesperson is
usually wearing identification.
Sara Seitz
All vendors entering the hospital check-in at our
Purchasing Department. I’m assuming that
Purchasing checks credentials and issues the
appropriate “visitor” pass. All other individuals
asking to see employees are take to Human
Resources. They take care of calling to see if the
employee is on duty and if he/she can (or wants to)
come down to see the person. We do it this way
because the person asking to see the employee
could be there to deliver a subpoena, could be a
disgruntled spouse, a bill collector, etc., so it’s
standard procedure that employees (and volunteers
at our information desk and direction desks) send
people to HR.
Jean Doty
We do the same, but we also can call the area they
are going to. This way we know the person is there
and it is ok.
Rosemary Simonson
At Waukesha Memorial Hospital, we have the paid
staff now signing in the vendors, etc. They must
present a business card or driver’s license when
signing in. They are given a visitor’s pass to wear
while in the facility. If there is any question at all,
we call the person they are to see. They took this
task out of the volunteer’s hands because of the
responsibility involved with vendors trying to
bypass signing in. Volunteers continue to greet,
give information, accept floral deliveries, escort
and give room number for visitors. Some of our
staff feel that security should be handling this
process because of the security issues involved.
Cheryl Whitford
At Sacred Heart Hospital, when sales people,
contractors and other individuals seeking
appointments with staff stop in, they are directed to
our Service Center. The staff in the Service Center
verify who they are, if they have a scheduled
appointment, provide a temporary identification
badge (which must be returned), and have them
sign in and out.
Mary Pengra
“My hospital is looking into possibly setting up a
childcare area for parents who have
appointments or tests scheduled. Are there any
hospitals that provide this service using
volunteers? If so, could you tell me how you
work it and are there any special
policies/procedures, insurance, or training you
set in place?”
Shawano Medical Center does not have this service.
Elaine Gast
Hayward Hospital does not have any service like
this. It sounds good, but we don’t have a specific
place or people to do this.
Sara Seitz
Our hospital does not provide a child care service
for customers.
Mary Pengra
7
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
“We are in the process of completing two
separate building projects. I have been put in
charge of gathering a few employees and
discussing developing guidelines for acceptable
artwork in public areas. Do your hospitals have
certain criteria, and if so, could you share with
me the person that oversees this at your facility.”
Appleton Medical Center does not provide this
service to patients.
Judy Lamers
Beaver Dam Community Hospital does not provide
this service.
Sally Cupery
We had a “Supervised Play Area” for several
years. It was closed due to space issues. I would
open one again if there were space available. It
was very well received by our customers. Anyone
coming into the hospital could drop their children
off as long as they remained on site and able to
return if called. We were closed over the lunch
hour, no lunches were served.
 We had them fill out a form with their name
and the names and ages or all children that
would be staying, department they would be
at, home number (for issues that may come
up after they left).
 There was identical wrist bands put on the
parent and all children that were staying for
identification on pick up.
 We also asked them to leave their driver’s
license or picture ID to check when
returning and remind them that they could
not leave the premised when the kids were
there.
 Any discipline problems or any other
problems, the parent was called back to the
area. We very seldom had any problems.
This was staffed by two volunteers at a time, and we
had a part-time coordinator that could help if
needed. The coordinator also served as clerical
support of volunteer services. We had a large
number of employees that wanted this job when it
was available. This was not a day care, so
employees could not leave their children, but there
was no licensing required.
Cheryl Windbiel
Theda Clark wanted to try a program like that a few
years ago, but we simply could not find space in the
building to implement. It still seems like a great
idea.
Janis Ackerman
St. Vincent has a Day Care off site, but we do not
have volunteers who take care of children while the
family member is in the hospital. The liability is
just too large.
Chris Kocken
We put artwork in our new facility, and a committee
was formed from several departments. The artists
were from a 50-mile radius and submitted photos or
slides of their presentations. The committee
reviewed these and voted on a number within a
prescribed dollar amount. It worked out well and
we are pleased with the results.
Sara Seitz
Administration has identified key personnel as art
council committee members. Also, various artists in
the community are identified and asked to be
committee members to guide and assist in the
purchase of appropriate art.
Mary Pengra
Our facilities engineering staff is in charge of the
artwork in the buildings.
Cheryl Whiteford
Over the past 40 years, our Partners group
(formerly “auxiliary”) has purchased original
artwork at our annual juried Mother’s Day art
show. We now have over 100 pieces that hang in
public hallways. They are all labeled with the
artist’s name, year of purchase and the type of work
it is (watercolor, acrylic, etc.). We are in the
process of creating a self-guided walking tour
brochure so patients and visitors can walk the
hallways and view/appreciate the artwork. We
purposely DID NOT hang any of these pieces in
family waiting rooms, (e.g. surgical waiting room)
because we didn’t want strangers browsing through
the waiting rooms peeking at art over the shoulders
of waiting family. Each year the art is purchased
by the Art Chairperson, and his/her committee
always includes an art instructor or an artist. This
chairperson is a member of the Partners Board of
Directors. The Art Committee has a line item in the
annual budget in order to purchase new art each
year. This has varied from $500-$1,500 over the
years. Artwork in other areas is ordered through
an approved vendor.
Jean Doty
8
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
“At Sauk Prairie Memorial Hospital we are in
the process of evaluating our Lifeline Program
and looking for possible ways to improve on how
we run it. If your job as DVS includes Lifeline
responsibilities, I’d appreciate it if you would
share some info:
1. How many Lifeline do you have
distributed?
2. Do you use volunteers for test calls? If
yes, how many volunteers do test calls?
3. Do you use volunteers for installations?
If yes, how many volunteers do
installations?
4. Do you use volunteers for any other
Lifeline jobs? If yes, what are those jobs?
5. How many paid staff are assigned Lifeline
responsibilities for how many hours a
week?”
We are doing artwork from local artists only, which
is screened and purchased by our foundation.
Cheryl Windbiel
Each area of the hospital is unique, i.e., Peds-would
be pictures of animals, carnivals, little children,
etc.; Nursing Home setting would be something
soothing like the outdoors or something very homey.
We work with the staff in the department that is
requesting artwork as they have a pretty good sense
as to what they would like to see in their area due to
the population they see.
All Saints Healthcare
Luther Hospital has had an Art Committee made up
of volunteers (local artists and community members
who have a special interest in the arts) since the
1960’s. Our Development Director and staff set up
meetings for the committee and reserve final
approval of art work. We only purchase local art
unless it is a donation. When we built the new
clinic attached to the hospital in the 90’s, the
architectural firm worked with Development and
the art committee to choose the art and frames so it
would go with the design of the new building. They
tried to use some local artwork, too.
Vicky Zehms
Saint Mary’s Hospital in Rhinelander opened its
new facility last year and I had responsibility for
art. I worked with Kate Dugan from Collector’s
Gallery in Oshkosh who I would recommend to
anyone. (920-235-3300) She and her colleague
Robin helped identify a theme, framing, placement,
etc., that complements the design of our new facility
as well as the environment.
Yvonne Fish
Our facilities and project planning departments
oversee this function. They work with a couple of
outside vendors to determine the motif of the area
which includes the artwork.
Kerry Burmeister
The Collector’s Gallery in Oshkosh was involved
with furnishing our new hospital with beautiful
artwork in 2000. We had a team of staff involved
on an art committee. The foundation was the lead
in coordinating the art committee. Spiritual
Services was also involved.
Amy Brownson
We have a Lifeline Program at St. Joseph’s in
Chippewa Falls. We currently have 175 Lifelines
out. We use volunteers to do test calls—we
currently have one volunteer that makes calls every
Tuesday. We have a paid staff person that does
Lifeline about 20 hours per week. Between he and
I, we take care of Lifeline, other than the test calls.
Laura Baalrud
We do not have Lifeline at St. Joseph’s in
Marshfield.
Jean Doty
At Black River Memorial Hospital we have a fulltime Lifeline coordinator supervised by the
manager of Patient and Family Services. Presently
we have 250 units in operation. We use trained
volunteers for monthly test calls (approximately
five) and installations/removals (approximately four
with the staff coordinator doing many). Many of the
volunteers are members of Partners. Even though
Lifeline is now a hospital program/service, our
Partners organization raises funds for Lifeline
through Love Lights and by applying annually for a
grant from out local Lunda Charitable Trust.
Mary O’Brien
Columbia-Saint Mary’s does not have a Lifeline
program.
Kerry Burmeister
We used to do Lifeline, but now Homecare/Hospice
handles this.
Rosemary Simonson
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DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
Saint Michael’s Hospital has 390 subscribers.
There are 10 volunteers who install Lifeline and
make test calls. Two of the volunteers are
coordinators. There is one paid staff member. 25
of her 40 hour week is dedicated to Lifeline. She is
also responsible for room reservations at our 2501
Main location.
Sherri Vetter
At Theda Clark Medical Center, the volunteers
service over 479 Lifeline units for residents in 31
cities. We have six Lifeline volunteers at Theda
Clark Medical Center. Five of the volunteers install
new units and travel numerous miles each month,
and one helps to make over 300 test calls per
month. The hospital has a Lifeline coordinator
along with three staff members in that department.
Janis Ackerman
Hayward Hospital has a Lifeline program that is
run by the Partners. Our hospital PR person takes
care of it. Currently we have approximately 150
units out. We have no paid staff. We do not do test
calls here. At present there is one installer who
really keeps busy and one person who is treasurer.
They are both volunteers, however, we do pay the
installer $.35 per mile outside the city and $5 each
trip in town.
Sara Seitz
All Saints Healthcare in Racine currently has 453
Lifeline subscribers with 442 units out in the
community. Two volunteers help do the test calls.
One is a volunteen, and the other is a new
volunteer. Two volunteers go out as a team to do
installs and service calls. One volunteer comes in
and posts all the Lifeline payments. There is only
one paid staff person for the Lifeline program who
works 32 hours a week as the Lifeline Coordinator
and reports to the Director of Volunteer Services.
All Saints is a central monitored program.
Cindy Clemens
At Aspirus in Wausau, we are a site-monitored
program. Our volunteer organization owns the 700
units in the Wausau program, and we are supported
through volunteer fundraising and supervised by the
DVS. We have 100 units in our Merrill program
and 700 in the Wausau program, so we monitor for
800 subscribers. We use two volunteers regularly,
two for test, and two occasionally. We have 10
couples that do installations and 5 singles. We send
the volunteers birthday cards.
We have the following paid staff: one full-time
coordinator at 40 hours per week and one part-time
assistant at 20 hours per week.
Yolanda Voigt
“Does anyone have a “Newborns in Need” or
“Babes in Need” program? One of our auxiliary
members chairs the project. She collects
donations of new and gently used newborn
clothing and blankets. She makes up baby gift
bags with a bib, four disposable diapers,
undershirt/onesie, socks/booties, receiving
blanket, and a couple of newborn-size outfits.
Auxiliary and hospital staff donate items and she
get some things donated from St. Vincent
DePaul. The gift bags are labeled with a sticker
“items provided by SMH Auxiliary” and staff
give them to moms who need some help getting
started. If your hospital has this program, how
does your staff determine who gets the gift bags?
Our staff feeling uncomfortable with making a
determination of what constitutes “need.” How
are they offered? What does the staff say to the
mom?”
We don’t have this program at Theda Clark,
although several of the area churches do something
of that nature. It really is a very nice program.
Janis Ackerman
We don’t have a program like this, but it sounds like
a good project.
Chris Kocken
We do not have this kind of a program at All Saints
Healthcare in Racine, but it sounds kind of nice,
though.
Cindy Clemens
We do have a LAYETTE program sponsored by our
auxiliary. Fortunately our auxiliary treasury
donates the money and two of the women shop for
new items and box together sets of appropriate
items similar to the things you mentioned. Each
layette includes a handmade afghan. These boxes
are stored on the post partum unit, and the social
worker assigned to that area takes care of their
distribution. She has the knowledge of each
individual patient’s circumstances, and we trust her
judgment to hand out boxes to those truly in need.
Carol Richards
10
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
At Columbia-Saint Mary’s we do not have a
program as you described. We do, just like many
others, provide a knit baby hat and blanket to all
newborns. We also have a group to quilts for us,
and they provide a quilted blanket for our babies in
NICU.
Kerry Burmeister
At Bellin Hospital in Green Bay, we do have a
Newborns in Need program. One of our auxiliary
volunteers heads the program and gathers
new/gently used items, makes some flannel
receiving blankets, and makes sure they are all
washed and ready to go. The auxiliary pays for the
items. We do get some homemade baby quilts
donated at times also. The Care Managers (social
workers) distribute things as needed.
Audrey Mehlhouse.
We have two shops three miles away from each
other. Each shop is open 50 hours per week. We
have one paid part-time position of 30 hours per
week and one paid part-time person at 20 hours
per week. Volunteer titles are: volunteer gift
shop chair and volunteer gift shop cochair/treasurer (x two shops). Both shops have
their own accounts and are separate from a third
general fund account. Annually, one shop turns
over about $42,000 and the other, $21,000.”
We have one shop that is open 47 hours per week.
There is a five-hour per week paid bookkeeper, and
two volunteer co-chairs who are also the gift shop
buyers. The shop has a separate account from the
general fund and the amount turned over varies
every year, but the average is $1,000 per month.
Cheryl Anderson
At Monroe Clinc, we have one gift shop. We are
open Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4 pm. I
have one paid gift shop coordinator at 20 hours per
week. My secretary does the bookkeeping. She
works 20 hours per week. We have a separate
account, and quarterly the gift shop coordinator
gives money to the Partners Group/Auxiliary. This
is usually $45,000 annually.
Rosemary Simonson
Report from Lee Frantantuno, Director of CSM gift
shop,s is attached.
“At All Saints Healthcare in Racine, we have two
campuses and a gift shop at each. On each
campus we have a paid part-time shop
coordinator, a volunteer gift shop chair and a
volunteer gift shop co-chair/treasurer. These
three on each campus are the buying, displaying
and management team for the shops. The
finances of each shop are separate with the profit
turned over to the VIP (Auxiliary) General Fund
(another separate account) on a quarterly basis.
I am interested in the management and financial
structures of other shops. Could you please tell
me:
1. How many shops do you have? If more
than one, how many shops do you have?
2. Number of hours the shop is open each
week.
3. Number of paid positions and weekly
hours of each.
4. Number of volunteer leaders and title.
5. Is the treasury separate for each shop
(may be applicable if you have more than
one shop?
6. Is the treasury separate from the General
Fund or co-mingled with it?
7. How much is turned over from each shop
annually?
Here is All Saints’ info:
“What do your hospitals do about transportation
(if anything) for family members or visitors who
come and are unable to traverse the long halls to
the area they need to get to? Our hospital
inpatient area is a long way from the lobby and
not all are able to walk there.”
At All Saints Healthcare in Racine, we have a
transporter department (paid positions) that moves
in-patients as our St. Mary’s campus is fairly
spread out, too. If an out-patient, visitor or
employee needs to get from one building to another
on the St. Mary’s campus, we have a volunteermanned courtesy van service that can be called to
pick them up and drop them off during the weekday
business hours. The van also circulates throughout
the parking lots to try and catch those remotely
parked to help get them into the buildings.
Cindy Clemens
11
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
Some are coming to outpatient clinics but can’t
walk that far and some are visitors that need
transport to a patient’s room because they cannot
get there by themselves for some reason. There’s
hardly a hallway where you don’t see a volunteer
pushing a wheelchair!
Carol Richards
Our volunteer escorts will assist with visitors if they
need it. Their main responsibilities are assisting
patients with admits and discharges, but will help
any visitor get to their destination.
Susan Senglaub
There is a paid staff person at the main entrance of
the hospital from 8:30 am to 5 pm. He will
transport family/visitors in wheelchairs. If he is not
available, we have adult escorts on duty from 10 am
to 4pm and teens (must be a minimum of 14 years
old) on duty to escort from 6 pm to 8 pm. Our paid
transport team escorts patients.
Jean Doty
Our front desk volunteers will walk them there or
use a wheelchair to transport them, if necessary.
Connie Herrick
We have a greeter or volunteer in each area that is
able to take them. It is part of our Front Desk
Volunteers job.
Rosemary Simonson
At Beaver Dam Community Hospital, our
volunteers are instructed in transporting these
customers/patients and family members via
wheelchair. We have wheelchairs available at all
entrances to the hospital and nursing home. The
wheelchairs are marked with the area that the chair
came from so that once the person is done using it,
hopefully it will come back to the right department.
The only problem we have is on occasion we run
out of available wheelchairs.
Sally Cupery
We try to have volunteers in our lobby to assist our
customers. If they are not available, a staff member
will take them (the staff member could be from the
department, Volunteer Services, or we have a
Central Transport team that do the more difficult
transports.)
Kerry Burmeister
We also store wheelchairs at our main entrance and
two secondary entrances. Escort-Transport
Volunteers are asked to check all three entrances
hourly to be sure a minimum number of wheelchairs
are available at each. The ET volunteer station is
at the main entrance so they are available to push
patients/visitors from there to departments/clinics.
If ET volunteers are absent, the receptionist calls
the destination department/clinic to come get the
patient. On occasion we also run out of
wheelchairs at an entrance, and then the ET
volunteer is asked to go searching for some. Other
ET jobs include delivering flowers and faxes,
picking up and delivering patients, files, records
etc., from one department to another, and so on.
They wear an in-house cell phone so they can be
called by any staff member during their three-hour
shifts: 7-10 am, 10 am-1 pm, and 1-4 pm.
Cheryl Anderson
We have about 100 volunteers whose assignment is
“Escort.” This number is spread out over five
weekdays, two shifts per day, covering three
information desks. Besides giving out info, these
volunteers transport discharged patients as well as
people coming into the hospital for various reasons.
“What does your hospital do for recognition of
volunteers and employees? In the past we have
done Employee of the Month or Hero Awards,
but we are looking for something different. We
want to have something done monthly to
recognize our staff, not just yearly.”
Specifically regarding recognition, we have just
started something new with our staff newsletter.
Each issue a department is featured telling about
what the department does and picturing staff
members. If it’s a large staff, the pictures show a
sampling of the staff. Also, each issue a volunteer is
featured showing a picture and telling what he/she
does for the hospital and a few personal tidbits like
hobbies and family. We do this in hopes of helping
the staff get to know and recognize the volunteers
better.
Cheryl Anderson
12
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
This is a great question! Our volunteers are invited
to the annual family picnic at the Milwaukee County
Zoo as well as invited to participate in our Learning
Centers and other educational programs which
teach them different skills (this is a huge
recognition piece because they feel that they are
part of the team). They are also included in our
Organizational Service Recognition programs
which departmental staff and volunteers can
nominate someone up for a star or do on the spot
recognition with a variety of things made up for
each department (i.e., candy bars, peanuts, meal
tickets, hospital logo trinkets, etc.). Another thing
that we do in the volunteer office is highlight a
volunteer in each of our newsletters where we ask
them to share some things about themselves,
accomplishments, etc. This has been a wonderful
edition; some of the stories are so moving. Some of
our departments also do a number of things
throughout the year to help recognize them (i.e.,
recognize birthdays, holidays, etc.) We also
encourage our departments that utilize volunteers to
send a written thanks, and then we publish these in
the newsletters as well.
Kerry Burmeister
I have been talking with the directors of the
departments where we have volunteers asking them
to have their departments think of some special
ways to recognize their volunteer and the work they
do for them. Our Medical Imaging Department
does two potluck luncheons every year just for the
volunteers there. The staff bring in food and
anything else needed and the volunteers are treated
like royalty.
Sally Cupery
Our volunteers are invited to our annual employee
picnic in August, the annual Christmas Open House
in December, our volunteer appreciation event in
April, and other educational offerings throughout
the year. I encourage all employees, but especially
those individual departments that have volunteers,
to thank/appreciate them, especially during
volunteer week, but also throughout the year as
well. Also, we send a lot of sympathy, thinking of
you, get well, thanks, etc., greeting cards and
usually include a personal message to many, many
volunteers throughout the year. Sometimes this
means more than a party or pin.
Jean Doty
At Aspirus Wausau Hospital, we hold a fall
volunteer recognition banquet. The volunteers have
a free meal, short program and thank you from our
administration. At this time we hand out awards for
hours of service--100-900 receive recognition pins,
and 1,000 hours and up receive a VISA card with a
preset unit of $100, $200, etc., that they can use at
any store. We also have a spring banquet where we
install officers. For Volunteer Week, we have a
weeklong celebration with cake and goodies and
our volunteers are also asked to the Aspirus
summer picnic, and we have a Christmas tea for
volunteers.
Yolanda Voigt
What we do here at All Saints Healthcare are the
HAT’S OFF (employee recognition by their peers)
Program and the PRIDE LINE (employee
recognition by the public). We also have the annual
Employee Meal (free meal once a year), and if a
volunteer is scheduled to work on that day, they are
permitted a free meal as well. Also the Volunteer
Tea is what we sponsor for the employees to stop by
and enjoy punch/coffee and cookies around
Christmas time. We also have a program that is
budgeted to every department in the hospital which
is a $10 cash voucher per employee at the
manager’s discretion on rewarding their employees.
Sandy Wahl
We have an Aurora Star for an employee who goes
“above and beyond.” A committee reviews the
requests and approves if they feel it warrants a star.
Once a month we have a gathering where the
Aurora Star recipient and anyone involved, and
their supervisor(s) is invited. Each service story is
read and the person is presented the pin.
Sometimes there are as few as 2-3 and sometimes
20 or more (like when many people pitched in
during a water main break on a Sunday). Everyone
then has cake and punch to celebrate and pictures
are taken and hung on a bulletin board in a welltraveled area of the hospital (near the cafeteria).
Staff/volunteers wear the pins on their name badge
holder. They are very attractive-in gold. I can
show you one at WHA Partners conference, if you’d
like to see one.
Connie Herrick
13
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
We have a Q.U.E.S.T. recognition program here.
Q=quality; U=uniqueness; E=enthusiasm;
S=Service; and T=teamwork. Employees can
nominate other employees or volunteers or groups
of either category or employees can nominate
themselves. A “citation,” balloon and gift
certificate (list of choices) is delivered by our
QUEST champion and the VP of the area the
volunteer/employee works in. We also invite
volunteers to the employee Christmas Open House
and our annual employee picnic. There are also
immediate recognition “tickets” (approx. $10
value) to employees for spontaneous recognition.
Jean Doty
We do our annual awards recognition in January,
volunteer week appreciation in April which includes
a banquet, gifts and special events and discounts
during the week. On an individual basis, we
recognize volunteers by sending thank you cards for
doing something extra or above and beyond their
normal duties. We always send cards if we find
they have been ill, have had a medical procedure,
lost a family member or pet, or to congratulate them
when something new and exciting has occurred in
their life. Of course we say “Thank You” and
spend time listening when they stop in to chat! We
do offer them a free beverage while they are here
volunteering, discounts in the pharmacy, and
occasional gift certificates to area businesses for
special things they have done. They are also
included in the employee picnic each July.
Tammy Fox-Husband
Sorry, All Saints does not.
Cynthia Clemens
We have a paid, part-time Patient Advocate.
Rosemary Simonson
I do have volunteers and am a Patient
Representative. I am at Riverside Medical Center
in Waupaca. I have done both for a long time, and
our hospital is a small rural hospital with the
volunteers becoming even more of my job than the
patient rep in recent years. My boss is also
involved in the patient rep, so not everything is
given to me in that position. This could be why I am
doing more volunteer activities. We do have a
survey that goes out. We use AVATAR out of
Florida. The managers of the departments are
aware of the patient satisfaction with this tool. So
that takes some of the responsibility away, too. If
you have a question, I would be happy to speak with
you. My telephone number is 715-258-1065. There
is a group from Wisconsin—Wisconsin Society of
Healthcare Consumer Advocacy—contact Julie
Haupt at St. Joseph’s Marshfield at
hauptj@stjosephs-marshfield.org.
Andi Crane
At Appleton Medical Center we have several
volunteers in the Patient Advocate role. If you want
any information about our program, feel free to
give me a call. I would be more than happy to
discuss their role with you.
Judy Lamers
I oversee the patient advocate program and actually
initiated it in our south region which is made up of
three hospitals.
Connie Herrick
We have had patient advocates at Aurora BayCare
for the four years that we have been open. This July
we discontinued it because clinical managers will
begin doing senior nurse rounds, and we did not
want to “over survey” our patients.
Marcia Brodhagen
We have two patient reps here at St. Joseph’sMarshfield. Here’s their info: Sr. Sharon Rollings,
715-389-4066, rollings@stjosephs-marshfield.org
and Julie Haupt, 715-389-3925, hauptj@stjosephsmarshfield.org. The only time they utilize
volunteers is when we have Mission and Values
Week. Usually the volunteers get involved in that,
doing some type of project.
Jean Doty
“Like most of you, I also wear another hat. I also
oversee the Patient Representative Department.
I am wondering if your organization utilizes
patient representatives/patient advocates, and if
so, could you please provide me a contact name,
phone number and/or email and whether or not
they utilize volunteers in their area. Any
information would be helpful.”
We used to have a patient rep on site. Due to staff
cuts, we no longer have that position here. If a
patient has a complaint, they talk to our
administrator on call or call our Quality
Management Department which is off site. We do
not utilize volunteers.
Amy Brownson
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DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
At Columbia-St. Mary’s we have an assigned month
for the volunteers. They can go to Occupational
Health anytime during the month to have the TB test
done. We discourage them to go on Thursday due
to the test needing to be read over the weekend. It
does run very smoothly. Occupational Health then
sends us who did not do it and we follow up with
them.
Kerry Burmeister
All our volunteers have their annual TB skin test
done during their birth month. We send a reminder
out the first of the month before their birth month to
make an appointment to get it done at our employee
health office. If they are non-compliant on the 15th
of the month after their birth month, they get
another letter saying they have 15 days to get it
done or they will not be able to volunteer and will
have to have two TB skin tests if it’s been 13 months
since their last one. A copy of this letter is sent to
the supervisor of the area they volunteer in.
Usually I write a hand-written note on the letter to
call if there is something going on that I don’t know
about. If at the end of the month after their birth
month they still haven’t gotten it done, I call them to
see what’s up. Actually with sending the first
reminder one month before and giving them until
the end of the month after their birth month, they
have three full months to be compliant. We use
VOLTRAK software to run the monthly birthday
list. The secretary in the Employee Health office
has access to this software and records when the
volunteer has his/her TB skin test done.
Jean Doty
Saint Michael’s Hospital follows the same format as
Saint Joseph’s Hospital. I send them a new
confidentiality form, safety update (to be returned
for their file), the TB form and a birthday greeting
with a gift certificate.
Sherri Vetter
TB skin tests are given by our Infection Control
department. She sets aside two days before our
annual orientation for TB tests and then reads it
during the orientation. If they miss that date, there
are two days later for make-up. If they miss that
without a good reason, they are terminated. This
year we started the last of May and make-up was
the end of July. We only have two that cannot work
until they comply and that is in the gift shop.
Sara Seitz
“Our group is interested in obtaining “Heart”
pillows for our heart care patients. We currently
use donated pillows from an outside group. I
have seen the ones that the Wausau Heart
Institute uses and was wondering if anyone has
information on the pillows and could pass that
along to me.”
This is a Partner-sponsored project. They used to
order from Shumsky, but recently switched to a
local vendor—the Community Resource Program,
Marshfield, WI. Char Smith is one of the contacts
our Partners was in touch with initially, but Dean
Bluhm is in charge of production and his phone
number is 715-387-4529. The pillows are
beautifully done in three colors, have our
Partners/hospital logo on them, and are a bit less
than Shumsky. Being local, we don’t have to pay
shipping costs.
Jean Doty
I have a woman who makes fabulous pillows for
cancer patients, breast cancer patients, huggie
pillows for patients and heart shaped—all kinds.
And her work is top notch! I will ask her to give
you a call or email you.
Connie Herrick
We do not do heart pillows for patients.
Cynthia Clemens
“Greetings from Appleton Medical Center! I
need your help! Could you please share with me
how you set up TB testing compliancy for your
volunteers? Currently, I have TB testing the
same day as our annual in-service. We offer the
inservice three times in one day. The volunteers
are asked to sign up for one time slot. We get a
pretty good turn out at our inservice, however,
we don’t get everyone. I have inservice in April,
and this year it took me until August to get my
TB compliance 100 percent complete. There has
to be a better system out there. Will you share
yours with me?”
Two years ago, Employee Health took over this
part. I set up one time a year, and the rest are
contacted by Employee Health and get their TB skin
test. I know in the past I had missed some, now they
can’t volunteer if Employee Health says they are
not compliant.
Rosemary Simonson
15
DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
We do our TB skin testing for volunteers annually
during September and October. I am in the process
of sending out a packet of information to each
volunteer. The packet includes: an update to their
annual health questionnaire, TB skin test forms,
confidentiality commitment, Mission, Standard and
Vision statements to re-sign. I am also enclosing
this year their safety training information. This is
unusual, but I was out of the office unexpectedly for
several weeks this past spring and am still playing
catch-up. The volunteers then can have their TB
tests done during three days in September and two
days in October that we have set aside for this.
Those who do not get it done at that time receive a
letter from me late in October asking them to get it
done as soon as possible. It’s usually January
before I have the very last person taken care of. I
do like the idea of having volunteers get their tests
done during their birth month. I may look into that
idea.
Sally Cupery
TB testing for all employees and volunteers is done
over the course of four weeks each fall. During that
time, to try and make it easy on volunteers, we hold
seven or eight in-service meetings. This enables
many to fulfill their annual training requirement at
the same time as when they are coming for their TB
test (we also hold five or six inservice meetings in
the spring on an alternate campus that about 1/3 of
our volunteers typically attend). Employee Health
gives us a letter to send to any who have not
completed their TB test. We are lucky and this is
normally less than a handful. If any do not respond
to the reminder letter, Employee Health would let
us know, and we would have to pursue further or
terminate the volunteer if they ultimately did not
comply.
Cynthia Clemens
At Bellin Hospital in Green Bay, we have been
going through somewhat of a transition of duties in
this area. The volunteers had been keeping little
charts or maps of the room and writing in where
each family was sitting, etc., but we have now
started giving the families pagers so they have more
freedom to go other place in the hospital which
doesn’t leave much for the volunteers to do. So far
the pager system has been working well and the
visitors really like it. However, we are now making
that position a volunteer greeter and are having
them do more customer service-oriented duties such
as checking more often with people if they seem
anxious, ask if they need anything, watching the
length of time they have been waiting, etc. They
will continue to tidy up the area, make coffee, etc.
We have also asked staff if they have any little
projects for the volunteers to do. With our new
construction, there is also a second waiting room
adjacent to the original one, so between the two
rooms, we will try to see if this is enough to keep the
volunteers happy and content.
Audrey Mehlhouse
At All Saints Healthcare our Surgery Volunteers do
greet the family members and work along with paid
staff on checking patients in upon surgery or when
a family is checking on the status of the patient’s
surgery. They will escort the visitors and family to
the proper destination and assist with waiting room
upkeep. They also help assemble and stamp charts
when volume of work is down. The volunteers help
out in the morning hours due to the peak of
surgeries being done during that time.
Sandy Wahl
Theda Clark Medical Center has the same format as
Appleton Medical Center as we are both ThedaCare
Hospitals.
Janis Ackerman
“I am looking for information regarding surgery
lounge volunteers. Could you share basic
information with me as to what their duties are,
when they are in the lounge, and how they assist
families? If you don’t use volunteers, could you
tell me how you keep track of the families? We
have surgery lounge volunteers, but as of late,
they have been having a difficult time keeping
track of the families. We even have a pager
system!”
Please see position description for Family Surgical
Waiting at AMC attached.
Judy Lamers
Job description for volunteers is attached. They are
in the waiting area from 6 am to 4 pm
Rosemary Simonson
Attached is the service description for Aurora
Lakeland and Memorial Hospital of Burlington.
Connie Herrick
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DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
“For those of you who have both Auxiliary
(Partners) and non-Auxiliary, do you have
different colored smocks for each? Are they the
same? Or do you use some other way of
distinguishing an auxilian from a non-auxilian?
We currently have our Partners wear pink
smocks (purchased 11+ years ago) and our nonPartners have their choice to either wear a navy
blue vest or navy blue short-sleeved smock or
navy blue long-sleeved smock. All navy blue’s
have the hospital’s name and the word
“volunteer” embroidered on them.”
At West Allis Memorial Hospital, you cannot be a
volunteer unless you join the Auxiliary or the Men’s
Service Club. I explain to new applicants that it’s
kind of like working in a “closed shop” where you
have to join a union in order to work there. As all
our women volunteers are Auxilians, there’s no
question as to the uniform they wear—sleeveless
salmon-colored tunics (little longer than vests, for
which they are happy!).
Carol Richards
At Bellin Hospital, we do not have different colors
for Auxiliary or non-Auxiliary members. About five
years ago a change was made to have all volunteers
wear one color—dark green. However, last year
that color was not available from our supplier any
longer, so we added navy. They have a choice of
smock, vest or polo shirt which are embroidered
with Bellin Health in white. We did not make
everyone change to the new color, so we now have
the two colors, which go along with the Bellin logo.
Audrey Mehlhouse
At Burlington, we have dark blue jackets for the
men and light blue smocks for the women. Men and
women have a choice to wear a navy blue vest. We
recently went with the vests because the
smocks/jackets are so hot. At Lakeland, the women
wear teal smocks and the men wear dark teal
jackets.
Connie Herrick
At SHH all volunteers, whether paying members or
not, wear the same color—teal. We have some
holdouts from days gone by who still wear their
pink (salmon) smocks
Mary Pengra
We have both Partners and non-Partners
volunteers. All volunteers in the hospital wear the
same color/style of vest/smock. There is no
distinction.
Sally Cupery
Our Partners and non-partners all wear the same
color. We started out with blue vests, but Wal-Mart
came to town and we had lot of comments so the
last order was dark green. The men are still
wearing the blue vests and the ladies are wearing
the green—they are generous and longer. The
ladies really like the longer vest.
Sara Seitz
All of our adult volunteers wear the same smocks.
When we just changed our name to ASPIRUS, we
ordered new forest green smocks and vests. They
have their choice of either. We have the word
ASPIRUS Volunteer embroidered on each vest. Our
teens wear a forest green shirt (looks like your
usual golf shirt) with the Aspirus Volunteer
embroidered on them.
Yolanda Voigt
We only have auxiliary members, so we do not face
this dilemma at All Saints Healthcare in Racine.
Cindy Clemens
We do not have an auxiliary at Waukesha Memorial
Hospital. Our adult volunteers wear a royal blue
jacket or cobbler-type apron, and our students wear
the same style but in light blue. We find the jackets
get very warm, but the majority do not want to go to
vests.
Cheryl Whiteford
At St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center in Green
Bay, there is no auxiliary for the hospital (it was
disbanded about 5-6 years ago) and our volunteers
do not wear a uniform of any kind. All that makes
them stand our as a volunteer is on their picture ID;
it says VOLUNTEER.
Michelle Riedi-Baumgartner
My volunteers all have lilac smocks with Volunteers
in Partnership on it. They are treated the same as
far as volunteers go. I am thinking of having a
special pin for members, but haven’t decided yet.
Rosemary Simonson
We do not have an auxiliary or Partners group at
CSM. All volunteers wear the royal blue jackets or
vests, and now we have polo shirts.
Kerry Burmeister
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DIALOGUE WITH THE DIRECTORS
Auditing
Cindy Clemens, 262-687-8083
cclemens@allsaintshealthcare.org
WADVS 2005 BOARD
Board of Directors
Hospitality
Jean Doty, 715-387-7106
dotyj@stjosephs-marshfield.org
President
Kerry Burmeister, 414-291-1144
kburmeis@columbia-stmarys.org
Long-Range Planning
Sue Gering, 262-532-3309
sgering@communitymemorial.com
President-Elect
Jean Doty, 715-387-7106
dotyj@stjosephs-marshfield.org
Renee Trzebiatowski, 920-738-2298
rtrzebia@affinityhealth.org
VP/Programs
Yolanda Voigt, 715-847-2846
yov@aspirus.org
Scholarship
Amy Brownson, 920-223-0228
abrownso@affinityhealth.org
Secretary
Ruth Morgan, 608-785-0940 x4203
morgan.ruth@mayo.edu
Regional Directors
Treasurer
Rosemary Simonson, 608-324-1569
rosemary_simonson@themonroeclinic.org
Southwest
Sally Cupery, 920-887-5988
scupery@bdch.org
Past President/ Affiliate Liaison
Lori Van Lin, 608-775-3697
lavanlin@gundluth.org
Southeast
Sherry Tietz, 262-243-7355
stietz@columbiastmarys.org
Committees
Northwest
Vicky Zehms, 715-838-3262
zehms.Vicky@mayo.edu
Membership
Tammy Behnke, 262-670-7209
tammy.behnke@aurora.org
Northeast
Cheryl Windbiel, 715-735-4200 x4418
cwindbiel@bamc.org
Bylaws/Policies & Procedures
Amy Brownson, 920-223-0228
abrownso@affinityhealth.org
Judy Lamers, 920-738-6269
judy.lamers@thedacare.org
WADVS Dialogue with the Directors is published
quarterly for the members of the Wisconsin
Association of Directors of Volunteer Services.
Articles, photos, and information for submission are
welcome. Please submit your material to the
Communications Chair: pkaroli@shsmh.org
Pam Karoliussen
Saint Mary’s Hospital
2251 North Shore Drive, Suite 100
Rhinelander, WI 54501
P-715-361-2875
F-715-361-2876
Legislative
Open
Communications
Pam Karoliussen, 715-361-2875
pkaroli@shsmh.org
Nominating
Lori Van Lin, 608-775-3697
lavanlin@gundluth.org
18