Hi all,
Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending a volunteer luncheon at Mercy Hospital in Portland, and I'd like to share with you some heart-warming things about Mercy and our visits there.
Mercy is the first hospital where I accompany Sandy on his pet therapy visits with patients, their families, and staff alike (the families and staff needs a "pet hug" sometimes too). It's a great thing to see the joy and relief he brings to people at painful and stressful times in their lives, especially the smiles he brings when we visit the oncology clinic during patient chemo treatments. Sort of ironic actually, since he is now on chemo himself to treat him for prostate cancer (no cure for this in dogs, but we're hoping to maximize his time and quality of life). I had originally planned to add other facilities to our visit list, including a children's hospital in Boston since he's so very good with kids. But since Sandy's diagnosis, I've decided to wait on that until he finishes his chemo treatments in about 3-6 weeks and see where we stand then (more on his status in other blog message "Sandy's Cancer Treatments").
Mercy is a hospital in Portland that was founded in 1918 during a devastating flue epidemic. By the time the current facility on State Street opened in 1943, the Sisters of Mercy had assumed full responsibility for the hospital, hence the name. Today, although the hospital has the usual CEO and other managerial staff, it still operates under the care and direct involvement of the Sisters. I felt an immediate link with this hospital on my first day as a volunteer when I attended the orientation for staff and volunteers alike, when I learned their mission is to provide clinically excellent and also compassionate healthcare for all, with special concern for the poor and disadvantaged. Not exactly the "bottom line" mentality of many hospitals out there today. I especially like their core commitment to dignity of the individual - both as caregiver and recipient of care.
The core values of this wonderful hospital include community, justice, courage, and integrity. From what I've seen first hand, these values show in the faces and actions of every person that works there. It's a wonderful place. During that first day of orientation, I was impressed by the opening welcome by the Sister who oversees mission services. She commented that in any group, if there is even one dysfunctional person, then that is the person that controls the group. And she added that when that happens we find out what the manager of the group is made of - because of course in these types of situations we can either let that dysfunction spread throughout the group, or deal with that dysfunction head on and let everyone know it simply will not be tolerated - giving those with the dysfunction a choice of adhering to the values or moving on if they prefer. This can of course be done with gentle yet firm compassion and caring, but must be addressed in order to take care of the group as a whole. Perhaps not the words I expected to hear from a Sister, but ones that I greatly identified with and admired very much. As I said before, it's a wonderful hospital for many reasons, and I would recommend it to anyone in search of excellent yet compassionate care.
During the luncheon last Friday, I was amazed at the ballroom full of hundreds of people that volunteer their time and talents for Mercy. People from all walks of life - all age groups, all physical characteristics, all different backgrounds and skills, and in general, just a wonderfully diverse and varied group. But with at least one thing in common - a united belief in the values of Mercy Hospital. I was amazed when the awards were presented at the number of hours some people have given - starting with 100, 500 and going up to something like 50,000 or was it even 80,000? (I stopped counting when they got into the tens of thousands). Some volunteers new like me, and others going back since early 1900's. It was astounding and very heartwarming.
At Mercy, the volunteers are treated like staff in the same "family-oriented" way, and it's very easy to feel welcome there. I was especially impressed that during the award presentation, unlike most events where the recipient walks to the stage to receive the award - at this event the CEO (a woman) and other executive team members walked into the crowd and presented the awards to the volunteers - who waited at their tables where they were photographed receiving the award from the management team. And since the number of awards given out were quite a few and people were all over the room - the management staff certainly got their exercise that day! But they did it with a smile the whole time. It was great.
Warm regards always,
Carla
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