For many years, dedicated volunteers have been the backbone of Thompson Health.
Their smiling faces would greet visitors in the gift shop. They would assist patients being discharged from the Surgical Care Center. They provided compassionate care visits to hospitalized patients.
However, when the pandemic hit in March 2020, the Health System’s volunteers were asked to stay home until it was deemed safe to return.
For August “Augie” Lindsay, it was an abrupt transition.
A Lima resident, Augie retired in 2013 as vice president of operations for RevChain Solutions and became a Thompson volunteer the following year. Within his first year, Augie contributed more than 500 hours. Many of those hours were spent transporting residents throughout Thompson’s M.M. Ewing Continuing Care Center, perhaps taking them to therapy in the skilled-nursing facility’s rehab gym or to the in-house hair salon.
By the beginning of 2020, Augie was at 3,500 hours and loving every minute of it.
“I truly enjoyed it – I enjoyed interacting with the residents, and the staff was always great,” he said.
After Augie got the call in 2020 that volunteer operations were being suspended, he kept busy with yard work and odd jobs around the house. As things began to return to normal outside of healthcare, he began getting together for lunches with a couple of fellow volunteers he calls friends. In addition, Augie “kept bugging Brandy,” referring to Brandy Collett, manager of the Thompson volunteers and the Information Desk. It’s no exaggeration to say he was chomping at the bit to return.
“When you’re retired, you need to stay active,” Augie explained, noting that he had always viewed helping out at Thompson as “a win-win.”
Augie’s persistence paid off.
Finally, after getting “the latest and greatest booster” and re-taking the necessary training, his first day back at M.M. Ewing was October 18. Now he’s there all day every Tuesday and Thursday and he said it’s “great.”
During his first week back, whenever he had a chance, Augie stopped to say hello to residents and staff he had not seen in over two years; he received a warm welcome from them.
“That made me feel good,” he said. “It seemed like they were excited to have me back.”
Brandy said the return of the volunteers is taking place throughout the Health System slowly but surely. It’s viewed as yet another milestone during the return to normal.
“Our volunteers play an integral role with patients, residents, visitors, and staff. Many of our volunteers have been part of the Thompson family for one or two years, or decades,” she said. “We have greatly missed their presence these past couple of years and are looking forward to welcoming them back with open arms!”
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer with Thompson Health, visit www.ThompsonHealth.com/Volunteer or call Brandy Collett at 585-396-6660.