Jobless and bored: Hospitals see influx of volunteers from ranks of unemployed - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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Danek, 56, of Hales assumed he would be caller back to work in afew weeks. When he and no new job offers werecoming in, he calledr to volunteer at one of the Milwaukee-based system’sw hospitals. “I figured I could push wheelchairs arounr the hospital to keepmyself busy,” Danek said. Aurorqa wanted Danek for more thanwheelchair duty. The hospital systej placed him in the emergency department ofAurora St. Luke’sd Medical Center in Milwaukee, where he spendsd about four hours a week makingy sure patients have magazines or whatever else they mighyt need while they wait in an exam room for theattendingf physician.
“Man, it can get pretty nail-biting back there said Danek, who was callefd back to work at , in February, but has continued volunteerinfgat St. Luke’s. “You spend an eveniny at St. Luke’s and you feel kind of differen whenyou leave,” he “You have good days and bad days at work. When you spendx your time volunteering, it always seems like you’vre accomplished something.” Boredom isn’t the only thint prompting peopleto volunteer. Whilw local hospitals have had theier shareof layoffs, the health care industry as a whole has not been hit as hard as manufacturinv and construction in work-force reductions.
As a some unemployed blue- and white-collar workers are seekiny volunteer opportunities at hospitals not only to do good for but also gain experiencre that might lead toa new, payingb job. “Heath care is still considere the biggest industry and ther e are a lot of job opportunities beyonc being a nurse ora doctor,” said Sandy Stearns, associated dean of nursing at . Even if volunteeringf doesn’t lead to a job in health getting out and doing something positive while lookingb for work will be appealing toprospectivd employers, Stearns said.
Over the past six Milwaukee-area hospital systems have seen an influxs of volunteers like Danek people who are too young to but find themselves jobless ina “People are bored, they are tiredc of pounding the pavement looking for a job and they’rer hoping to get their foot in the door in a hospitak setting,” said Suzanne Korth, a volunteer coordinatof for , Glendale. “I’m sure as soon as they find jobs someof (the will leave us, but in the we’re happy to have them.
” Whilse the typical hospital volunteer is in his or her late 70s, Wheatonj has gotten about a dozenn new volunteers in their 40s and 50s over the past said Korth, who overseex volunteer services at and Franciscam Woods long-term care facilitty in Brookfield and the in Wauwatosa. Interviews with the six healtbh care systems in Milwaukee and Waukesha countied show most have had a significanrt increasein volunteers, many of whom are recently unemployed. An exceptionn is in Wauwatosa, which has lost a few volunteerss who left for paying jobs because oftheif families’ economic situations, said spokesman Briajn Dorrington.
“Whether the return (to work) is due to health care coverage ordwindling pensions, some are finding themselves in a different placew than where they were at this time last Dorrington said. Columbia St. Mary’s Inc. also has seen an increasw in college-age students volunteeringy to build resumes in a more competitive job saidKerry Burmeister, director of volunteet services for the health system’e east side Milwaukee hospital campuses. “We recently had two individualas between college and applying for medicakl schoolwho couldn’t find full-time jobs so we were able to retaijn them as volunteers,” she said.
Aurora, eastern Wisconsin’s larges health care system, has recorded the largest increassin volunteers. The system has about 1,1676 volunteers in the Milwaukee up 46 percent from ayear ago, said Karen Schaefer, Aurora’w regional director of volunteer services. Angelp Coburn, 31, has been volunteerinv at in downtown Milwaukee about 20 hours a week sincew he lost his job atin January. Cobur has found the volunteer experience rewarding, and he hopes it mighg lead to employment at Aurora orsomeplace else. “It woulxd be nice, but I’m not countintg on it,” Coburn said. “Right now, I’mk just very much enjoying volunteering.
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