Volunteer Opportunities
Depending on individual interests, some of our volunteers work directly with patients while others provide invaluable assistance in hospital support areas or in one of our physician practices or community collaborative programs. Each year the volunteers raise thousands of dollars through our robust recycling program and gift shop sales. All proceeds benefit patient care and scholarships for care providers seeking future careers in health care.
How to Join Our Volunteer Team
We do request a minimum commitment of one year of service annually. Call 707-445-8121 ext. 7530 for more details. Click here for a volunteer application.
Junior volunteer program
Providence's junior volunteer program is a great way for high school students interested in medicine to get experience within the hospital walls. Orientations are held twice a year, in May and October. Applications are accepted year round and held for the next orientation date. For an application, click here.
Information desk
Situated in the hospital lobby, these volunteers provide general information and directions to all hospital visitors.
Floor duty
These volunteers provide Patient Care by supporting the Nursing and Nutrition Services staffs in the following ways: delivering warm towels to patients before meals, delivering patient flowers, cards, etc., delivering doctors' orders, lab specimens, pharmacy requests and charts to departments as needed, processing mailings, and completing special projects.
Concierge
These volunteers keep all communication lines open between the surgical staff, family members and information desk; greet family members as they arrive in the waiting room and escort family members to the consultation room.
Gift shop
These volunteers are responsible for the retail sales of this shop. They handle payment transactions, wrap gifts, and prepare window displays.
Departmental support throughout the hospital
Volunteers provide non-clinical, administrative support to Radiology, Dietary, Administration, Medical Records, Patient Billing, Purchasing, and the Rio Dell Community Resource Center. Additionally, volunteers knit baby caps for each newborn and sew abdominal pillows for surgery patients.
Spiritual health services volunteer chaplains
These volunteers provide non-denominational support to patients as requested. After completing an in-depth eight week course that prepares them for the position of Chaplain, they select a two hour block of time one day a week to visit with patients. These volunteers are trained to support patients and families through the grief process and to provide active listening, emotional, and spiritual support.
Community programs our volunteers support include
Ongoing fund raising events to improve patient care services at Redwood Memorial Hospital.
Vial of Life community program
A volunteer committee ensures that vials are placed throughout the community in convenient locations and that they remain adequately stocked. These vials include a Health Information form which could save valuable time for paramedics trying to determine a patient's prior medical history (including allergies and medications).
Evergreen Lodge
The Evergreen Lodge provides "a home away from home" for cancer patients from Santa Rosa, California to Medford, Oregon, and remains the only facility of this type on the North Coast. Offering more than just a place for these patients to stay, the volunteers reach out to provide small comforts that help in keeping their spirits up.
Click here for more information.
Mended Hearts
Affiliated with the American Heart Association, Mended Hearts is a national nonprofit organization, which started in 1951. The organization provides peer support and education to patients and their families before and after heart surgery. Mended Hearts Chapter 46 in Humboldt County was constituted in November 1996 under the auspices of St. Joseph Hospital and the local Heart Association. The organization provides an accredited visitation program. The chapter meets monthly on the fourth Tuesday of every month, from 4pm to 5pm. at St. Joseph Hospital. Anyone may attend the meetings. Often there will be guest speakers talking about various aspects of heart disease, healthy eating habits, benefits of exercise and stress reduction techniques.
Heart pillows and surgery pillows
Soft, cushy pillows are handmade monthly for all heart and surgery patients to help comfort them while recovering at home.
Recycling
One of the fund-raising activities that the volunteers manage at both campuses while also helping to maintain the beauty of our environment.
Community volunteer opportunities and partnerships
Provide assistance to the Community Resource Center Coordinators by performing general office duties or other projects as directed. These individuals play an important role in serving our community's most needy residents including the homeless. Community Resource Centers in Rio Dell, Blue Lake, Eureka, Loleta & Willow Creek.