By Doris Gardenhire/Press release
Very important! The Masquerade Jewelry Sale is Nov. 2-3. Notice that Nov. 2-3 are Monday and Tuesday, not Thursday and Friday. Next month’s column will be too late to remind you, so put it on your calendar and watch the Community Calendar. In case you’re a new reader, this is the sale where everything is $5. That makes bookkeeping very easy! They have more than jewelry (although there’s plenty of that), such as tote bags, scarves, hats, even dresses sometimes. As always, the money we raise from these sales goes to the Nursing Scholarship Fund.
Thanks to all of you who came to the Book Fair. The inventory was much bigger this year, and grandparents had a field day getting started on Christmas shopping. Watch for next year’s sale, because you don’t want to miss it.
Ditto for the Linen Sale—people got a real bargain on sheets and other linens. We plan to make this an annual event also.
We still need more volunteers, since we are short on Menus and weekends. If you really want to feel helpful and appreciated, come join us. All you have to do is pick up an application in the Gift Shop (and do what it says, of course).
The District 10 meeting of auxiliaries was a success, which is remarkable, since we got it assigned very late. Kudos go to Ruth (Cookie) Lang and her helpers for pulling it together in only two months. The last time we hosted it, we worked for a year! The format was different this time, and it was well received. There was a great brunch and information-sharing by the auxiliaries. After the meeting, three state officers toured ETMC and were very complimentary of both the hospital and auxiliary.
The auxiliary also had a get-together at the Arboretum, with hot dogs and lots of visiting. It is nice to get to know other volunteers that we may not ever see because we work in other areas and on different shifts. This time I learned about the many travels of our members, which I’ll include in next month’s column. It is amazing at the life experiences our volunteers have had. You’ll never run out of things to talk about if you visit with any of them!
October’s general meeting was well attended, as always, since that is when ETMC provides a flu shot for all volunteers, as well as HIPAA training (if you’ve been reading this column, you already know what HIPAA is!) (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act)
I feel I must give you a little information about HIPAA, so please don’t let your eyes glaze over! This is just to let you know some of our requirements if you are a visitor or a patient:
Since 1996, the Department of Health and Human Services has required privacy training for all hospital employees and volunteers. It is a Federal law, but individual states may add more stringent requirements (which Texas has done). So if you come to visit a patient, please know:
You MUST know both first and last names before volunteers can give you a room number. So if you know someone by a nickname or middle name, be sure to find out the actual first name.
- Volunteers can NOT give you any information about any patient other than the room number.
- Volunteers can NOT call anyone to tell them that so-and-so is in the hospital, not even the pastor.
- Volunteers can NOT ask a visitor why they are there—or what is wrong with the patient they are visiting.
- Volunteers can NOT go visit a patient they know, if they have learned about that person’s being in the hospital in the course of their job.
While these rules seem excessive to some of us, it nevertheless is a civil or criminal offense to break these commandments. While there are some gray areas, please don’t get mad at volunteers who are just doing their job!
I have room for only a few tidbits about some of our volunteers; maybe more next month.
Several of our ladies have been pastors’ wives. Lou Campbell, 65 years married, volunteered and traveled with Baptist Builders for 22 years, including Sri Lanka after the tsunami.
Sharon Wofford was a pastor’s wife for 40 years. She also worked in banking and customer service—she loves helping people.
Anna Mathis was married to Curtis Mathis and spent 50 years pastoring. They met as chemistry lab partners in college! And Mary Bess has already been mentioned as she and her husband C.W. were missionaries in Germany for three years.
These ladies continue showing their love in the auxiliary.