Vanessa began her volunteer journey visiting with newly admitted patients to INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center. As part of the patient ambassador program, Vanessa surveyed patients about how their stay was going within their first 24 hours and to help fill in any gaps to provide them with the best possible care.
Vanessa Hunholz first came to INTEGRIS Health after urging her husband Steve to get a colonoscopy. Thanks to the screening, doctors discovered a carcinoid tumor – a rare, slow-growing cancer that often shows zero symptoms. “Had we not gone to get screened at that point,” Vanessa says, “they wouldn’t have found the carcinoid and Steve probably wouldn’t be with us today. INTEGRIS Health saved our lives.”
Faced with the shocking diagnosis and subsequent surgeries to remove the cancer, Vanessa and Steve recall how big of an impact volunteers at INTEGRIS Health had in making them both feel as comfortable as possible. Inspired, she decided to give back. Vanessa began her volunteer journey visiting with newly admitted patients to INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center. As part of the patient ambassador program, Vanessa surveyed patients about how their stay was going within their first 24 hours and to help fill in any gaps to provide them with the best possible care.
Now 16 years later, Vanessa is president elect of the volunteer board, which will be her second tenure as president. It’s a role she enjoys as she loves sharing her story and recruiting people to volunteer in an area they are passionate about. She volunteers her time up to five days a week per month in several service areas. She has worked in fall prevention, volunteered in the burn unit and across several departments at Baptist, including delivering rollaway beds to patient rooms or heading up the information desk and gift shop. Vanessa has made the rounds on every floor at Baptist and knows the hospital like the palm of her hand, as she often helps shepherd patients and family members to interventional radiology or the surgery waiting room.
“Those little things can mean so much,” Vanessa says. “To have someone extend a helping hand in the worst moment of your life goes a long way. As volunteers, we are also caregivers, and we provide care in any way we can.”
Volunteers at INTEGRIS Health come from a diverse mix of backgrounds, experiences and skills to give back to the communities they serve. And for many like Vanessa, the reason they began volunteering is deeply personal.
There are lots of opportunities to get involved. According to Karli Stroh, the metro director of volunteer services at INTEGRIS Health, there are 800 lifetime volunteers.
“There’s so many different service areas and passions to volunteer your time to,” Karli says. “If you don’t find something that you love the first time, you can try something else. With more than 20 service areas, there’s going to be an opportunity that will fit your interests. We want each volunteer to have the opportunity to put a personal fingerprint on volunteer service to our hospitals.”
If you are interested in becoming an INTEGRIS Health volunteer, please visit integrishealth.org/volunteer. For questions, call Volunteer Services at 405-949-3183.
