They were volunteering at UConn Health, sat out for nearly a year during the pandemic, and came back. Three retirees share what motivates them to assist patients, visitors, and staff on their own time.
Joan Munroe, of Wethersfield, volunteers at UConn Health. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)
Twenty-three of the volunteers who'd been giving their time to help at UConn Health are back after a pandemic hiatus that kept them away for about a year.
And UConn Health is glad to have them.
"We have volunteers supporting various departments on campus including Guest Services, Occupational Health, Spiritual Services, and Molecular Biology & Biophysics," says Lisa Detoma from the UConn Health Office of Patient Experience. "Our numbers are significantly lower because we have not opened many of our areas for volunteers to return due to our COVID-19 policies and restrictions."
Under these restrictions, the small army offers more than 90 hours of volunteer labor in a typical week, assisting with clerical tasks, pastoral services, wayfinding, appointment verification, transport, patient mail and other deliveries to the inpatient units.
In March 2020, volunteers were asked to not come in at all while UConn Health was adjusting to life during COVID-19. Before that, the number of active volunteers exceeded 100.
"Finally, a year later, in 2021, I got the email saying, 'Would you be interested in coming back in,' and I just about hurt myself typing that answer, 'Yes, yes, please let me come back in, yes," says Joan Munroe, who started volunteering at UConn Health in 2017. "And I was in within a month. I really wanted to be part of the team again."
Munroe lives in Wethersfield and is a retired software engineer from the private sector. She comes in about eight hours a week, primarily to help with wayfinding. Most Mondays and Thursdays you'll find her at or around the desk in the main building lobby.
"Even though I'm here for eight hours a week, I feel like I'm actually making people's days a little bit easier and a little bit better," Munroe says. "When somebody is going through a crisis, I'm able to calm them down. If somebody's confused I'm able to reduce their stress. So I really feel that somehow I'm adding to someone's life when they're facing a situation of difficulty."
On Tuesdays you're likely to find Jay Christian in the same lobby. He retired after 32 years of service at UConn Health, his last 20 years in the role of managing curriculum rotations in the UConn School of Dental Medicine. He's been volunteering for about four years.
"The health center is a large part of my life; it's sort of like a second home to me," says Christian, who commutes from Harwinton. "It's very satisfying, because you're directly helping people, in wheelchairs, or walking with them, or showing them how to get someplace. I think people need a smiling face and a nice person to do this type of stuff because they're under a lot of stress just coming to a hospital, I think, a lot of times."
Meantime, on your way into the Outpatient Pavilion, you're likely to encounter Carol Staubley, another UConn Health retiree. She spent most of her 24 years of service working in the Graduate Medical Education Office, and started volunteering not long after she retired in 2014.
"I love what I do. I love everyone here. I enjoy what I can do to help UConn and the patients and the doctors," Staubley says. "I tell a lot of people, if they're interested in doing something, then come to UConn, because they're always looking for volunteers, and it's a great place to work, a great hospital."
Staubley, of Plainville, comes in on Tuesdays and Thursdays, helping with entry screening and wayfinding. Before the pandemic, another of her duties was to keep patients company in the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, a role she hopes to reprise once pandemic restrictions ease.
"I love working with the doctors there, the patients and the staff," she says. "They're all great."
UConn Health expects to start welcoming new volunteers and welcoming back previous ones who haven't returned yet as pandemic conditions allow.
"I want everyone, especially our volunteers, to know what a significant role they play within our institution and how much we appreciate their hard work and dedication," Detoma says.
UConn Health is not back to accepting new volunteer applicants yet, but when the time comes, the updated information will be available on the donors and volunteers page
