Local Hospital Releases Volunteer Roster, Highlights Community Support
On December 5, 2025 Jacksonville Memorial Hospital published its weekly volunteer schedule, naming community members assigned to patient facing and support roles across the week. The roster underscores the role of local volunteers in maintaining patient services and offers a window into how community partnerships sustain hospital operations.
On December 5, 2025 the weekly volunteer schedule for Jacksonville Memorial Hospital listed assignments for a range of patient facing and support roles, recognizing individual volunteers and community groups for their service. The roster named volunteers working Monday in Ambulatory Surgery Transport, with Carmen Borrero and Bev Hurst assigned as Ambulatory Surgery Transporters. Don Rhoads and Susanna Sherrill were listed at the ER Entrance. Gift Shop shifts were filled by Kay Vanatta and Linda Swisher. Guide duties were assigned to Herta Dech and Rama Brennan, and Lynn Stremming was listed as the Oncology volunteer. Other days on the schedule included volunteers for ER Door, Gift Shop, Guide, Messenger, Patient Financial Services and Rehabilitation Services. The schedule also thanked community contributors, including the Doorbell Dinners effort from Salem Lutheran.
The hospital schedule functions as more than a calendar. For patients and families visiting Jacksonville Memorial, visible volunteers ease navigation through entrances and departments, maintain gift shop services that can brighten a hospital stay, and support clinics and rehabilitative care that affect recovery and discharge. Volunteers serving at the ER Entrance and ER Door play a particular public health role by assisting patient flow during high demand periods, helping staff prioritize urgent care, and providing information that can reduce stress for those arriving in crisis.
At a community level the roster highlights civic engagement across Morgan County. Named volunteers reflect a mix of longstanding contributors and neighborhood groups whose donated time supplements hospital staffing. That reliance on unpaid labor has practical benefits and ethical implications. Volunteers expand capacity and humanize care, yet their presence also points to broader workforce challenges facing rural and regional hospitals, and to questions about equitable access to paid positions in health care.
Policy implications are clear for local leaders and health systems. Sustaining volunteer programs requires training, infection control protocols, and coordination with professional staff. It also demands attention to inclusivity so volunteer opportunities are accessible to people from varied backgrounds and to safeguards that prevent unpaid labor from substituting for needed paid roles.
For residents, the weekly roster is an invitation to participate and a reminder that community health depends on both professional health workers and civic volunteers. Those interested in volunteering should contact Jacksonville Memorial Hospital to learn about current openings and required training.
