• About UPMC |
• Hospitals & Facilities |
• Our Services |
• Find A Doctor |
• Your Visit |
• Health A-Z |
• Careers at UPMC

News Release

VNA SEEKING HOSPICE/BEREAVEMENT VOLUNTEERS
UPMC Northwest, Sugar Creek Station also enlisting volunteer help

March 12, 2007 — Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) of Venango County needs more volunteers to aid terminally ill patients and their families, and it is enlisting area residents to expand its hospice/bereavement volunteer corps.

These volunteers focus mostly on hospice services like companionship, errands, transportation, and respite care, but VNA is expanding their roles to include more services that benefit families recovering after a terminal illness. Bereavement services like visitation, listening, comforting, and spiritual counsel represent a new dimension that allows VNA to meet families’ needs beyond patients’ lives, according to VNA bereavement/volunteer coordinator Rita Kiter.

No health care education or experience is required to become a hospice/bereavement volunteer. VNA will provide all the training that is necessary.

To sign up as a hospice/bereavement volunteer or learn more, individuals can call Mrs. Kiter at 814-678-1111.

Other UPMC Northwest organizations also are enlisting volunteer help. UPMC Northwest needs adult and teenage volunteers to staff the Information Desk in the hospital’s Main Lobby, where they provide general information and directional or escort assistance. 

Also needed at UPMC Northwest are greeters for the hospital’s Major Diagnostic Center, Surgery/Procedures Center, and Emergency Department. Additional volunteer opportunities include serving as UPMC Northwest Auxiliary sub-committee members for health promotions and special projects and tours, staffing the Coffee Bar, clerical support, data entry, and assisting with terrace gardens.

At UPMC Northwest’s Sugar Creek Station skilled nursing center, volunteer opportunities include staffing the gift shop, escorting residents and visitors, assisting with rehab services, and helping with residents’ activities inside and outside the facility.

Persons can sign up to volunteer at UPMC Northwest or Sugar Creek Station by calling Volunteer Services supervisor Dorothy Staub at 814-676-7922.

Individuals who wish to volunteer for non-hospice duties at VNA, including assisting with clerical support functions, assembling admission packets and mailings, and lending a hand with flu shot clinics and youth grief programs (summer Camp Good Grief and winter Hope for the Holidays), also can call Mrs. Staub.