VMC honors corps of 400 volunteers for National Volunteer Week

Each year, over 400 hundred residents of Santa Clara County volunteer their time and services as volunteers at VMC. The work is often thankless: a warm smile given to a wayward family looking to visit a patient, a cup of water refilled in a patient room, or a book read to a child in a clinic waiting room. The roles that volunteers play at VMC are essential to the high level of care provided at the busiest hospital in Santa Clara County, and deserving of widespread recognition and thanks. Volunteers enhance the services provided in the hospital so that the staff can focus solely on patient care and raise money to support the hospital through the leadership of the Volunteer Auxiliary Leadership team.

Every volunteer completes a minimum of 100 hours each year, but some exceed this commitment by 8 fold and sustain that level of service for as long as 15-20 years. At the VMC Foundation, we call on the help of volunteers multiple times a year, and couldn’t be more thankful for their support. Arriving on time and with a smile on their faces, volunteers have helped the Foundation welcome members of Congress, help guide guests to the appropriate event site, and staff reading zones in Valley Health Center clinic waiting rooms. An all volunteer staff help Foundation employee Kathy Trutz run the hospital Gift Shop, with all proceeds going to benefit the VMC Foundation. Another hospital volunteer, Jean Meddaugh, serves on the Board of Directors of the VMC Foundation. A retired VMC nurse and volunteer of 11 years, Jean helped launch VMC Foundation’s Reach out and Read program and continues to serve as a volunteer on VMC’s main hospital campus.

The volunteers at VMC really do play an essential role in helping achieve the mission of the hospital: to provide top quality health care to everyone in Santa Clara County, regardless of their ability to pay. So, if you see a volunteer in their signature blue smock, take a minute to thank them for all that they do each day. We thank you, VMC Volunteers! Your impact is felt in every corner of the hospital.