Lakeland begins volunteer program

HALEYVILLE - A lady who  just retired after 69 years in the healthcare profession has been selected as the first volunteer to work in the new Adult Volunteer Program at Lakeland Community Hospital in Haleyville.
“We wanted that first person to be someone iconic,”  Lakeland President and Chief Executive Officer Cherie Sibley said about Wanda Owen, who most recently worked at the office of Dr. Jerry Harrison before retiring in June.
Owen’s career dates back to the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, when she worked for various doctors who had hospitals in downtown Haleyville before Burdick-West Hospital opened in 1969. 
While Owen was s student at Haleyville High School before graduating in 1958, she worked for Dr. William Wilson, as well as for doctors John Wood, Vanessa Ragland and Harrison. Owen worked for Harrison the past 29 years, family members said.
There are  three generations of healthcare works in Owen’s family,  including her daughter, Divana Elkins, who had a career as director of clinical services at Walker Baptist Hospital in Jasper, and granddaughter Emma Elkins, who is graduating from Samford University in December with a bachelor of science degree in nursing.
“Nobody know the importance of a hospital more than a nurse,” Sibley stated. 
“Most hospitals have volunteers,” she continued. “(This program) does several things. It gives a familiar face to the front of your organization. The first position in our volunteer program will be our front desk.”
Community volunteers will fill two time slots a day,  Monday through Friday, each volunteering in a four-hour block - from 8 a.m. until noon, and noon until 4 p.m., according to Sibley.
Volunteers will also be provided a free breakfast or lunch, depending on what time of day the volunteer is at the hospital, she added.
Volunteers will greet people who come into the hospital, direct them on where to go and assist them with any information they might need, Sibley described.
As volunteers fill those positions, the next area where they will provide assistance will be the radiology department, Sibley continued.
“It’s really just greeting people, having a smile on your face,” she said.
 Hospital officials have seen through Lakeland’s Senior Connection program, which began earlier this year, that seniors in the community need to connect, Sibley said.
“It’s that ability to have friends and people outside your home to connect with, outside the people you know and love every day,” Sibley added. “This gives our volunteers an opportunity to do that.”
The goal is to have at least 30 community volunteers working in two four-hour blocks per weekday at Lakeland by the end of the year, according to Sibley.
Those interested in becoming adult volunteers at Lakeland are not required to have a background in the medical field.  They need to be people who enjoy talking to others, as well as have a good demeanor, organizers said.
Volunteers, Sibley described, need to understand the value of confidentiality because they will have access to basic patient information.  They will not have access to patient records or files.
Those interested in becoming an adult volunteer need to contact Administrative Director Tabitha Edwards at (205) 485-7192, or visit her at the hospital and fill out a form.
“Once we get their information, if they want to come in for an application, or if we need to mail them an application, I can mail them an application and they can fill it out and send it back to us,” Edwards explained. “Then, we’ll go through an interview process.”
Since the reason for hospital visits is usually what a person needs instead of wants, volunteers need to be friendly to maybe ease the burden patients and families may be facing when coming to the hospital, healthcare officials indicated.
“They serve, because this is a volunteer position,” Sibley reminded, “but their skills they have acquired over these years are what are so important.”