Did you know that in a typical year, Pullman Regional Hospital has over 200 volunteers serving over 18,000 hours?! Volunteers are an essential and valued part of Pullman Regional Hospital & Clinic Network.
From greeting visitors at the front door to serving in the gift shop, enhancing the experience for patients and assisting at events- volunteers help each and every department at Pullman Regional Hospital continue to pursue excellence in healthcare.
Nikki Nolt, Volunteer Coordinator at Pullman Regional Hospital, says that “volunteers truly enhance the patient experience. The first face you see when you come to the hospital is one of our volunteers. Their smiling faces and calm demeanor put patients at ease.”
Volunteers at Pullman Regional Hospital can be broken down into 3 groups:
- Community Volunteers: Community Volunteers include chaplins, creative team, information desk attendants, Gift Garden staff, music volunteers, patient support volunteers, and prescription pet volunteers.
- Student Volunteers: Student Volunteers include students enrolled in a university pre-health major. Students can earn required hours while gaining exposure and work experience in the clinical environment. Opportunities for Student Volunteers include serving on our units, job shadows, physician shadows, clinical research, pharmacy volunteers, after hours information volunteers, and therapy shadows at Summit Therapy & Health Services.
- The Auxiliary: The Auxiliary is dedicated to supporting patient comfort and healing needs in the hospital. Through fundraising, the Auxiliary helps fund patient care items such as stuffed animals, toiletries, entertainment technology to support patients during procedures, therapy swings & much more.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted almost every facet of operations inside and outside the hospital, including the volunteer programs. In an effort to keep patients and employees safe, we had to close our doors to our many wonderful volunteers. Those doors remain closed to volunteers in the majority of hospital spaces- but not forever! The Pullman Regional Hospital family is excited about the opportunity to welcome back our volunteers in the future. While a definite date is not set yet, plans are being created to get back to our usual volunteer load, while we also carefully monitor the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Nikki Nolt wants people eager to volunteer to know that “we can’t wait to open our doors up to volunteers again. Our staff and patients miss everything that a volunteer adds to the hospital. Our top priority is keeping our patients and community safe. Once it’s safe to have you back, our doors will be wide open and we’d welcome your time and talents!”
If you’re interested in staying up-to-date with our Student Volunteer program and want to be notified of any changes to our volunteer load, we encourage you to join our Student Volunteer Communication List. By doing so, you’ll be added to an email list to receive information when volunteers are welcome back into the hospital and clinics and how to apply to become a volunteer.
Please note that per Pullman Regional Hospital’s COVID-19 Vaccination policy, all volunteers must show proof they are vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.
