Pictured left to right are Lawrence Memorial Hospital volunteers Marian Wilbur, Alan Fisher and Eric Wang. Wilbur and Fisher were honored as Lockwood Volunteers of the Year; Wang was named Ryan Kanost Student Volunteer of the Year.

As National Volunteer Month — a time to celebrate the work that volunteers do year-round — winds down, Lawrence Memorial Hospital recognizes the vital role volunteers have in supporting quality health care in our community.

Last year, 896 volunteers contributed 73,949 hours in service to LMH. Those numbers more than support the theme of this year’s celebration: “LMH Volunteers: We have you covered.”

Some amazing facts about LMH volunteers:

• Volunteers are assigned in 77 different places in the hospital.

• Escort is the hospital’s largest service area with 180 volunteers covering 3,165 shifts last year.

• The average age of LMH volunteers is 36; the youngest is 14 and the oldest is 93.

• 24 percent of LMH volunteers are over 60 years of age.

• 71 percent of LMH volunteers are women; 29 percent are men.

Lawrence Memorial Hospital is a major sponsor of WellCommons.

Eric Wang

Alan Fisher

Marian Wilbur

At the 59th annual meeting of the LMH Auxiliary on April 11, awards were presented to volunteers for their years and hours of service. Volunteers with top hours in 2015 were Dianna Nelson with more than 900 volunteer hours, Michael Bottom with more than 600 hours, and Beverly Bartscher and Kristine Furlought, each with more than 500 volunteer hours. Julie Hack was recognized as a 25-year pin recipient.

In addition, Marian Wilbur and Alan Fisher were honored as the Marguerite Lockwood Volunteers of the Year, and Eric Wang was named the Ryan Kanost Student Volunteer of the Year.

The Auxiliary also honored LMH CEO Gene Meyer as he nears retirement, including making him an honorary volunteer, and surprised Allyson Leland, director of volunteer services, with recognition of her 25 years of volunteer leadership. In 2015 the LMH Auxiliary again received the Hospital Auxiliaries of Kansas Gold Award of Excellence.

LMH Auxiliary President Bob Bechtel said: “The heart and soul of the volunteer program lies in the individual volunteer in each of the departments where they serve.”

Bechtel noted that in addition to being Auxiliary President, he volunteers in the Oncology Center, the fourth biggest volunteer-utilizing department in the hospital. Last year, 42 volunteers worked 1,408 shifts for a total of 5,200 hours in Oncology.

Jyl Haynes, one of the nurses in oncology, said: “Our volunteers keep coming back every week to keep us cleaned, serviced, greeted, comforted, and generally running smoothly down here in oncology. They truly do keep our wheels on in so many ways, and we are daily indebted to their kindness and energetic help.”

In addition to volunteering their time, LMH auxiliary members raise funds through jewelry, uniform and book sales to help support $1,000 scholarships to area high school students pursuing health care careers, renewable for four years. For the 2015-2016 school year, there are 14 students receiving scholarship funding.

In 2015, merchandise sales at the gift shop and Mario’s Closet totaled $403,175, with proceeds after expenses being reinvested in contributions to the hospital. For each of the past three years, the Auxiliary made $65,000 in gifts to the hospital, including supporting the acquisition of new hospital beds and equipment for surgery, oncology and the laboratory; purchasing wigs and prosthetics for women who can’t afford them; and the renovation of the hospital’s fourth floor.

This year the auxiliary is making the first installment of a five-year pledge of $250,000 toward the Cardiac Catheterization Lab and Cardiovascular Services initiative.

Accomplishments of 2015 included volunteer services implementing new scheduling software that allows more than 300 student volunteers a semester to self-schedule in 14 different areas. Volunteer services also adopted and transitioned to a new online volunteer background check process, which not only offered additional security precautions for patients, but also reduced staff time for data entry.

If you are interested in learning more about volunteering at LMH, visit the hospital’s website at lmh.org/volunteer.

— Janice Early is Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Lawrence Memorial Hospital, a major sponsor of WellCommons.