ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL AUXILIARY

Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital Auxiliary reached a significant milestone on November 30th, 2004! Back on November 30th, 1954, Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital Auxiliary was officially recognized as an “Institution Member” of the American Hospital Association.

In the fifty years since then, thousands of people have volunteered their time, talent and energy at Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital and helped to carry on the health care mission of the Sister’s of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

The services these volunteers performed are many and varied. They have included: helping patients and visitors at the Information Desk; serving as hostess in the Surgery and Critical Care waiting room; escorting patients and visitors throughout the Hospital; pushing patients in wheelchairs; helping Nurses perform non-clinical tasks such as giving water and passing food trays to patients; delivering mail and flowers to patients; providing books and magazines to patients; pushing a gift cart around the hospital selling snacks and candy; performing clerical duties in administration, Medical Records, Business Office, and Human Resources; driving the shuttle cart in the parking lot, taking visitors, patients and staff to the front entrance and back to their car.

The volunteers have operated a Gift Shop within the Hospital and a Thrift Store across the street from the Hospital. These stores have provided valuable and needed services to patients, visitors and staff of St. Mary’s as well as the local community. In addition to the Gift Shop and Thrift Store, volunteers have earned money by making and selling Craft items, selling home made baked goods, and having “raffles” for many different items.

Over the years, Carondelet St. Mary’s Auxiliary has donated money to help pay for such things as: a book cart, a gift cart, a heart-lung machine, remodeling the Recovery Room, new Heart monitors, remodeling the 1st floor, ocular pulse monitors, a portable x-ray machine, remodeling the Gift Shop, provide laundry equipment and ice machines, remodeling the Pediatric waiting room, the 4 South Nurses Station and the Recovery Room, provide an Aortic Balloon pump, closed circuit TV’s, a CT Scanner, a new Chapel, Defibrillator Monitors, a “Code Cart”, remodeling the Surgery waiting room, provide new parking lot Shuttle carts; remodeling the Emergency Department, new Maternity Department; provide a Day Care center for Hospital staff, and build a new Emergency Department.

In addition to all of the Hospital enhancements listed above, Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital Auxiliary has awarded nearly $200,000 in Educational Scholarships to students pursuing careers in health care.

This group of individual volunteers have faithfully aided and assisted Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital in carrying out its mission for over 50 years. Since 1954, Carondelet St. Mary’s Volunteers have given over 2,500,000 hours of service and $3,200,000. Thank you for recognizing us on our 50th anniversary.