2016 HAVE Award winners and finalists

2016 HAVE Award Winners

Community Service Programs

Doula Volunteer Program

Sutter Davis Hospital/Sutter Health
Davis, CA
Jennifer Maher, Chief Executive Officer

Accepting award: Volunteer Tina Lyon

Contact Carolyn Campos at CamposC@sutterhealth.org or 530-759-7445

The goal of the Doula Volunteer Program is to provide free doula support to laboring or postpartum patients. The term doula comes from the Greek word meaning “a woman who serves.” Volunteer doulas are non-clinical members of the care team who provide support in accordance with the medical/midwifery plan of care and patient preference. The doula’s role includes hands-on physical and psychological support during birth. Some 23 percent of the hospital’s 1,500 births annually are attended by volunteer doulas. Patients attended by doulas have fewer medical interventions, improved bonding with their babies, higher breastfeeding rates, lower cesarean rates, fewer incidents of post-partum depression and mood disorders, and lower medication usage.

Community Outreach and/or Collaboration

Community Care Network Health Coaches

Winona Health
Winona, MN
Rachelle Schultz, President/Chief Executive Officer

Accepting award: Volunteer Molly James

The Community Care Network (CCN) Health Coaches program was developed to improve individual health and quality of life, prevent hospitalization and emergency department visits, and avoid unnecessary health care costs. In partnership with Winona State University, the CCN trains students and other volunteers to become health coaches. The goal is to assist people struggling with chronic health conditions by conducting home visits and becoming non-clinical members of the care team. The first 42 volunteers developed relationships with 103 clients through 6,000 visits and phone calls. Some 47 percent of CCN clients have primary diagnoses of mental illness and 20 percent have congestive heart failure. The average client is 60 years old and coping with multiple chronic conditions. In the first three months of the program, emergency department visits and hospitalizations for CCN clients declined by more than 85 percent.

Contact Robin Hoeg at RHoeg@WinonaHealth.org

Fundraising

Vettes to Vets

Bedford Veterans Hospital/VA New England Healthcare System
Bedford, MA
Christine Croteau, Hospital Director

Accepting award: Volunteer Karen Blandini

The goal of the annual Vettes to Vets Corvette show is to raise funds and collect resources to benefit veterans cared for at the hospital. Since the community event was started by a volunteer veteran in 2003, more than $400,000 has been raised in monetary and non-monetary donations. Funds have been used to rebuild the hospital’s greenhouse; maintain an education center for veterans with free Internet and computer training; build a new hospice unit; and purchase a wheelchair van for recreational outings for patients. Some 100 volunteers work every year on the two-day fundraiser, which includes a dinner, silent auction, live auction, parade of Corvette cars, afternoon barbecue, musical entertainment and donations of comfort items. The Corvette parade has grown from 25 cars in 2003 to 550 vehicles in 2015. The parade winds through town and ends in the courtyard of the medical center, allowing patients who are too ill or disabled to participate in the event to see the festivities from their rooms.

Contact Linda Mitchell at linda.mitchell@va.gov or 781-687-3253

In-Service Hospital

Storycatchers Program

Longmont United Hospital
Longmont, CO
Mitchell Carson, President and Chief Executive Officer

Accepting award: Volunteer June Berlinger

The goal of Storycatchers is to obtain the life stories of patients and share them with hospital staff, physicians, family and friends. Volunteers interview patients and their loves ones, and write stories or poems capturing the essence of the patients’ lives. Communicating their stories allows patients to restore and/or enhance their relationships with loved ones, including details and feelings that might not have otherwise been conveyed. The stories are often used in eulogies and obituaries. Developed by a volunteer who is a retired nurse, the program is a collaboration among the hospital’s volunteer services department, transitional care unit and spiritual care services. In the first five years, seven volunteers captured more than 120 stories and 30 poems. The program touches people and changes lives. It facilitates farewells, lifts human beings up to take on the challenge of living anew and reminds health care workers why they do their jobs.

Contact Laura Kinder at laura.kinder@luhcares.org or 303-651-5206.

2016 HAVE Award Finalists

Community Service

Community Health and Education Houses

Baxter Regional Medical Center
Mountain Home, AR
Ron Peterson, Chief Executive Officer

Four Community Health and Education Houses provide information, training and support on four health issues: cancer, diabetes, aging and women’s issues. Among the four houses, some 75 volunteers are involved with fundraising, customer service and education support related to tobacco cessation, nutrition education, managing acid reflux, cancer prevention, car seat installation, menopause, osteoporosis and finance, among other issues. In 2014, more than 18,000 patients and families were served.

Contact Becky Rose at brose@baxterregional.org or 870-508-1064

Congestive Heart Failure Volunteer Intervention Program

New York Methodist Hospital
Brooklyn, NY
Mark Mundy, President and Chief Executive Officer

In an effort to reduce avoidable readmission rates among patients with congestive heart failure, volunteers provide non-clinical support. Through pre-discharge education and follow-up phone calls for four weeks following discharge, volunteers facilitate information on following medication regimens, encourage patients to weigh themselves daily, support adherence to approved diets and help ensure follow-up appointments are made with physicians. Patients served by these volunteers report 54 percent fewer avoidable readmissions. Volunteers also provide input into the program through leadership roles on the Congestive Heart Failure VIP Steering Committee.

Contact Wendy Froede at wlf9001@nyp.org or 718-780-5399

In-Service

Arts in Healthcare – Healing Ceilings

Lee Memorial Health System: HealthPark Medical Center and Lee Memorial Hospital
Fort Myers, FL
Jim Nathan, President/Chief Executive Officer

Volunteer artists have painted calming scenes on more than 300 ceiling tiles throughout six hospitals and multiple outpatient facilities to provide visual relief for patients, families, visitors and staff. The Healing Ceilings program turns a blank canvas into a creative distraction and art gallery for patients awaiting procedures, lying in hospital beds, undergoing physical therapy enduring long radiology tests, as well as for families sitting in waiting rooms. Scenes include waterfalls, forests, butterflies and flowers. Patients admitted for an extended length are also invited to paint their own tiles, which are installed above the beds in their rooms. Once a month, hospital staff, patients and families are invited to participate in Ceiling Tile Paint Days, which are coordinated by volunteers. A volunteer marketing student also developed a database catalog with photographs and locations to identify where specific tiles are installed. Some artists also produce canvas replicas of their tiles, which are sold at community auctions. Proceeds are split with the artists and help fund the purchase of hospital-grade paint and supplies.

Contact Jill Palmer at jill.palmer@leememorial.org or 239-343-6085

Fundraising

Auxiliary Partners Thrift Store

Ministry Eagle River Memorial Hospital
Eagle River, WI
Sandra Anderson, President

The thrift store collects gently used items and sells them to the community at a community location. The thrift store, which has operated for 50 years, is the only one in this rural northern Wisconsin area. The shop also has an arrangement to honor vouchers issued by local churches and not-for-profits to assist community members who are struggling financially. Some 38 volunteers comprise the workforce, serving some 12,000 hours annually. Proceeds from sales benefit the hospital, ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 in contributions annually. Funds have been used to purchase items such as an ambulance, outpatient surgery equipment and ambulance-based electrocardiogram equipment.

Contact Kathy Viergutz at kathy.viergutz@ministryhealth.org or 715-356-8677

Ruth’s Book Nook

Memorial Regional and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital
Hollywood, FL
Zeff Ross, Chief Executive Officer

Ruth’s Book Nook is a freestanding bookstore in the center of the hospital, which lends and re-sells new or gently used books and uses the proceeds to fund scholarships for the hospital’s teen volunteers. The bookstore was developed in part with input from members of the Family Advisory Council, and features a variety of books, including large-print, foreign language, children’s, self-help and cookbooks. Books are donated by staff and community members. Most recently, 11 scholarships were awarded with the proceeds for between $1,500 and $2,500 per year. In addition to serving as a source of books, the central location and décor of the store offer a respite for staff, patients and families.

Contact David Reinmund at dreinmund@mhs.net or 954-265-5940

Community Outreach and/or Collaboration

Healing Through Hands-On Science

University of Michigan Health System
Ann Arbor, MI
David Spahlinger, President

The health system developed Health Through Hands-On Science in partnership with a local museum to deliver science education and health-based activities at the children’s hospital and the museum. The goals are to reduce anxiety and increase confidence and comfort within the health experience, normalize the health experience and bring the care experience into the community. Volunteers partner with staff to deliver education in the hospital’s family center, as well as through activity carts that visit waiting rooms. There are also four weekend “Super Science Day” programs featuring 10 table-top activities on science and math topics targeted at patients, parents, siblings and other family members. The aim is to provide distraction and discovery about how the body works in a playful setting.

Contact Loulie Meynard at louliem@umich.edu or 734-936-4327

SWRMC Auxiliary’s Unique Boutique

Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center
Williamsburg, VA
David Masterson, President

The goal of the boutique is to lend or give wigs, hats and scarves to patients who have lost their hair as a result of chemotherapy or other medical conditions. The boutique volunteers are cancer survivors, as is the owner of a local hair salon who cleans and styles the wigs after patients no longer need them. The boutique started with more than 700 wigs, 950 hats and 1,200 scarves donated by a cancer survivor. The boutique serves up to 100 patients annually.

Contact Margaret Cullivan at mxculliv@sentara.com or 757-984-7194