Throughout the Mount Sinai Health System, there are more than 1,000 volunteers uplifting the experience of patients and visitors. To further enhance the relationship between volunteers and patients, the Mount Sinai Office of Patient Experience joined the Mount Sinai Department of Volunteer Services in 2023.
“We share a synergy in our work and in our dedication to patient care, always keeping patients at the center of everything we do,” says Shari Kaplan, Senior Director, Volunteer Services, Mount Sinai Health System, which encompasses patient-related volunteers, research volunteers, and administrative and program support volunteers. “Volunteers support patients, staff, and visitors, and our work is to deploy these bright, dedicated, and caring people to all areas where they can share their magic.”
Building on Mount Sinai’s value of teamwork, every hospital within the Health System has now adopted the VSys Live platform, a volunteer portal used for onboarding and tracking volunteers. Previously, this tool was only used at The Mount Sinai Hospital.
“The volunteer onboarding process is now streamlined across the Health System, allowing us to collaborate as teams to recruit, train, celebrate, and elevate volunteers everywhere they serve,” says Dana Kuefner, Director, Volunteer Services, The Mount Sinai Hospital. “This is a major achievement that demonstrates our commitment to teamwork, an important value at Mount Sinai.”
Mount Sinai volunteers take on different but equally valuable roles across the Health System. Ambassador volunteers welcome patients and families as they enter Mount Sinai, while Meal Assistance Program (MAP) volunteers encourage patients to eat, and Pet-Assisted Therapy (PAT) volunteers bring dogs to visit patients. Meanwhile, high schoolers are experiencing volunteering for a hospital for the first time through the Mount Sinai Pathway Program, which is expanding throughout the Health System.
CARE (Care and Respect for Elders in Emergencies) volunteers stock up on reading glasses, hearing amplifiers, and stress balls as they prepare to visit patients in the Emergency Department.
“When you hear music in the corridors, see puppies being patted, an art cart being rolled outside a patient’s room, or an Emergency Department patient being comforted, chances are, there’s a volunteer sharing their gifts,” says Ms. Kaplan.
Future goals of Volunteer Services are focused on further collaboration and teamwork. For example, The Mount Sinai Hospital CARE volunteer coordinators are working with the Office of Patient Experience to plan visits between volunteers and patients in the Emergency Department during surges, and to ensure the most vulnerable patients receive the most supportive care. Mount Sinai Queens is considering plans to start its own Art for Healing program, in which volunteers bring “art carts” containing art supplies to patients.
Volunteers pose in front of an art cart as they prepare to visit patients at bedside.
The Mount Sinai Hospital is considering a MAP program similar to Mount Sinai Morningside’s. During mealtimes, MAP volunteers offer support to nursing staff and patients needing assistance to help them achieve their optimal nutritional goals. In addition, the program, which currently exists at Mount Sinai Morningside, provides companionship and social support for patients, which helps improve clinical outcomes, reduces anxiety and isolation, and improves the patient experience. MAP volunteers receive special training to serve in this role.
“The future of our Health System Volunteer Services is rife with opportunity—as we are all better together,” says Ms. Kaplan.
In our patients’ own words
“When I came in, after my water broke, a volunteer swooped me into a wheelchair and made sure I got up to the L&D floor. I unfortunately don’t remember her name, but she was so nice.”
− Patient at Mount Sinai West