Volunteers Exceed $2 Million Mark in Donations to Munson
Volunteers have assisted Munson in every way possible for 59 years
Volunteer Kay Bauman arranges a display in the Gift Shop, one of many jobs performed by Munson's active Volunteers.
Nearly every building project undertaken by Munson Medical Center in the past 50 years has been paid for in part by the men and women who serve as the hospital’s Volunteers. The Volunteers have now reached the $2.3 million mark in donations and pledges to the hospital.
When the new ER opens in 2007, the Volunteers will have the satisfaction of knowing that their $500,000 contribution helped make the project a reality. Just like the Women’s Pavilion, the East Tower, the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center, the Biederman Cancer Center, the Outpatient Services Wing, the Hospitality House, and the Hospice House, to name a few.
“It’s overwhelming, really, what the Volunteers have accomplished over the years,” said Munson Medical Center President and CEO Ed Ness. “They have made a huge impact on this facility. Their daily personal contact with patients has helped create Munson’s reputation for being a friendly, caring place. In every instance, they have also enthusiastically offered financial support to help Munson provide the services that make it the nationally-recognized hospital it is today.”
Each day, 80 to 100 Volunteers — including men, women, and teenagers — work all around the hospital, providing about 53,000 hours of service each year. Throughout the Munson Healthcare network, volunteer groups and auxiliaries have historically played a vital role by providing invaluable service and raising funds for capital improvements.
In the Beginning
In 1925, the James Decker Munson Hospital opened with a glowing endorsement from the local press: “Nothing more complete, more modern, or more fully equipped in the way of a hospital exists in Michigan. Fifty-five patients can be cared for without the slightest crowding.”
By 1946 Munson Hospital had a big problem: It was bursting at the seams. Newspaper photographs regularly depicted “Sick in the Corridors” and “Congestion in the Hospital.” One dramatic account described the plight of a vacationing 14-year-old girl who had emergency surgery, then was discharged to a local hotel because there were no hospital beds available.
Hospital superintendent Bennet McCarthy knew he had to act. He did two things. He turned to the men in the community to help launch a $600,000 fundraising campaign to expand the hospital. And, he turned to the women in the community and asked them to help the hospital’s acutely overburdened nursing staff.
A Community Responds
Men and women alike responded. In 1946 the newspaper reported that volunteers were organizing an auxiliary at Munson Hospital “to assist that institution in every way possible.” By 1949, the hospital had 700 volunteers.
Soon, their services were requested throughout the hospital. Whenever the hospital needed money, the volunteers jumped in to help.
By 1953, the volunteers had opened a Gift Shop at Munson, which has become the group’s greatest source of revenue. From the earliest days, they directed a portion of their funds to pay for nursing student scholarships — a practice that continues today.
If you are interested in becoming one of Munson’s prized Volunteers, contact Volunteer Services Manager Theresa Stachnik at (231) 935-7455.
If you are a Munson Healthcare patient and have a compliment,
concern, or complaint, please contact one of our Patient
Liaisons.
