Reading Hospital Aims to Help Employees do Good

For employees of Pennsylvania’s Reading Hospital, the passion for helping others that drew so many of them to the field of health care in the first place is now being expanded beyond hospitals walls, and subsidized by the hospital itself.

Reading Hospital recently announced that staff will be able to do volunteer work while on the clock through the Community Outreach and Engagement (CORE) program.

For one workday per calendar year, employees can take on volunteer tasks such as packing emergency food boxes, spackling and painting bedrooms for low-income housing, or cleaning up local hiking and nature trails with Berks County Parks and Recreation while receiving full pay.

Initially begun in 2012, the CORE program languished but was revived when hospital staff expressed their desire to become more engaged in the community but faced the challenge of time.

Charles Barbera, president and CEO of Reading Hospital, said “Our employees at Reading Hospital are some of the most caring and thoughtful people around. We are excited to help make our community the best that it can be.”