Contact: media@bannerhealth.com
MESA, Ariz. (Jan. 10, 2019) – If your New Year’s resolutions include volunteering, or if you just want to put your free time to good use, Banner Desert and Cardon Children’s Medical Centers in Mesa need you. The adult and pediatric medical centers have openings for volunteers to fill many positions, including courtesy cart drivers, greeters, gift shop sales and various clerical positions.
Volunteer Services Director Carly Ofsthun said there is a need to continuously recruit volunteers because 50 percent of the volunteers are students who move on after fulfilling their academic requirement. “Our volunteers are all ages, but the students tend to cycle through once they have completed their hours,” Ofsthun said.
Ofsthun said the application process to volunteer is just like applying for a job, so applicants should be prepared for it to take about four to six weeks, including a full background check and occupational health screening. “It’s a lengthy process, but worth it to ensure we’re getting quality people into volunteer positions that are meaningful to them and support our customer obsession,” she said.
Ofsthun said courtesy cart drivers are in the highest demand, and fulfil one of the most critical needs. “This is a large medical campus and the cart drivers play an important role in making the experience easier for our patients and visitors to navigate,” said Ofsthun.
Karen Anderson, from Tempe, has been a volunteer courtesy cart driver for two of her five years as a volunteer at Banner Desert. “I just love seeing the smile on someone’s face when I drive up in my cart to rescue them from being lost, or from having to walk a long distance from where they parked,” Anderson said. She began volunteering after retiring from being a dispatcher with the Mesa Police Department. “I wanted to be useful and be of benefit to others.”
Those interested in becoming a volunteer, can call (480) 412-3258 to get started. Volunteers can work as little as four hours per week, with a minimum six-months or 100-hour time commitment required.
About Banner Desert Medical Center
Banner Desert Medical Center is a nonprofit hospital in Mesa, Arizona, providing a range of inpatient and outpatient services, including emergency services, Level I trauma care, cancer care, heart care, orthopedics, women and infant services, rehabilitation, neurological care and more. The medical center is one of the most comprehensive hospitals in Arizona and serves as a regional referral center in the East Valley of metropolitan Phoenix. The medical campus is also home to Cardon Children’s Medical Center. Both facilities are owned and operated by Banner Health, the largest provider of health care services in Arizona. For more information, please visit www.BannerHealth.com/Desert.
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