SoutheastHEALTH Volunteers Enjoy Labor of Love

Peck Robert volunteers his time as a lobby greeter at Southeast Hospital. His wife Germaine helps man the front desk in the Hospital lobby.

For the Kelso, Mo., couple, it's a labor of love. Peck says there's a lot of satisfaction in volunteering to help others. Germaine agrees. "It just gives you a good feeling," she says, dressed in the pink smock that denotes her as one of SoutheastHEALTH's female volunteers. Male volunteers wear tan vests.

In June, Peck will have been a volunteer at Southeast for a decade, having contributed 3,900 hours of service. His wife has volunteered for eight years.

'The Best Job'

"You have to be a people person," Peck says of being a volunteer at Southeast. He mans the front doors at the Hospital for four hours on Monday and Wednesday mornings. He cheerfully greets patients and visitors, helping them exit their vehicles when necessary and holding the door open for them.

Germaine volunteers once a week, on Monday mornings. At the front desk, she and other volunteers offer directions to patient floors and other locations throughout the Hospital. "We deliver flowers and emails to patients," she adds. The front-desk volunteers also will transport visitors in wheelchairs when needed. "I really enjoy the ladies I work with at the front desk," Germaine notes.

Peck, who operated a feed and fertilizer store in Kelso before his retirement, loves to volunteer at the Hospital. "People don't know what they are missing," he says. "This is the best job I have ever had."

Peck says he decided to volunteer at Southeast Hospital because "I was running out of things to do." He already had a good impression of the Hospital, he says, having undergone heart bypass surgery at Southeast 19 years ago. "That worked out well," he admits.

Sheltered from the Storm

Both Peck's and Germaine's willingness to help others extends beyond the Hospital walls. During the blizzard of 1979, Peck recalls, they housed 72 stranded motorists overnight in their home located a short distance from Interstate 55. Pecks remembers making pancakes for everyone the next morning.

Germaine says their house guests, who were from seven states, appreciated having shelter. "They were just glad to have a warm place to stay," she notes.

SoutheastHEALTH Auxiliary

Judy Brown, president of the SoutheastHEALTH Auxiliary, says her group has dedicated volunteers who love what they do. "They give the most important thing they can give and that is their time," notes Judy who has been volunteering at the Hospital for the past seven years. She encourages interested residents to join the Auxiliary. "We are always looking for more volunteers."

SoutheastHEALTH's volunteers often provide visitors and patients with some of their first impressions of the Hospital and its services. "They are very good ambassadors for the Hospital, Judy adds.

SoutheastHEALTH has 223 volunteers. In 2012, Auxiliary members contributed more than 54,000 hours of service to SoutheastHEALTH, staffing everything from waiting rooms to the Gift Shop, transporting patients throughout the Hospital and delivering flowers and e-cards full of good wishes to patients. In all, Auxiliary members provided over $1 million worth of volunteer labor last year.

Southeast Hospice

In addition to the Auxiliary volunteers, Southeast has another dedicated group of volunteers who work with Southeast Hospice.

Southeast Hospice has about 60 men and women who volunteer their time to aid terminally ill patients and their families. In 2012, they contributed nearly 10,500 hours of service, equaling approximately $229,000 worth of donated labor. Volunteers drove a total of 14,715 miles to perform their duties, amounting to more than $8,100 worth of donated mileage expenses.

Southeast Hospice serves residents in Bollinger, Cape, Perry and Scott counties and portions of Stoddard, Mississippi and New Madrid counties. Care also is available to residents at a number of area nursing facilities.

Hospice Volunteer Coordinator Pearla Smith says Hospice depends on volunteers to perform a variety of tasks, including providing emotional support to patient and families and handling office duties. "I have '11th Hour' volunteers who will sit with patients who are actively dying," she notes.

Smith says she has some volunteers who have worked with Hospice for more than two decades. "I have such awesome people," she adds. But she says Hospice would love to have even more volunteers.

A Vital Role

SoutheastHEALTH Executive Vice President Jim Limbaugh says, "All of our volunteers -- those in the Auxiliary and those involved with Hospice -- play a vital role in our organization. Their caring spirit, enthusiasm and willingness to serve are vital to our mission of providing the best healthcare for our patients."

Adds Limbaugh, "At SoutheastHEALTH, we say 'The Difference is How You're Treated.' Our volunteers demonstrate that difference each and every day."