Texas County Memorial Hospital has opened the application process for area youth to join the 2015-’16 Youth Ambassador program.
Youth Ambassadors are area high school juniors and seniors and area college students that volunteer their time at TCMH. Since the program began, more than 6,000 hours have been volunteered. Last year, teens gave more than 2,400 hours.
“The Youth Ambassador program has been an excellent way for some of our area young people to get a taste for working in a healthcare environment and to provide a valuable service to the hospital,” said April Steele, Youth Ambassador coordinator at TCMH.
The program was created as an extension of the hospital’s traditional auxiliary program and is limited to 40 students. Members are chosen from a formal application process.
Youth Ambassadors are required to go through an orientation and must commit to volunteering at TCMH for four hours each month. The program includes three levels of volunteer achievement, and the three levels can be achieved based on volunteer hours and work ethic.
Several former Youth Ambassadors now have jobs working in the hospital departments. Youth Ambassadors have also received educational scholarships from TCMH.
Volunteer duties include passing out fresh linens and filling ice water cups for patients on the medical surgical floors, greeting visitors and patients at the main entrance and reading to and talking with patients in the hospital’s swing bed program.
With the new construction, Youth Ambassadors have played an active role in greeting patients and visitors at the front entrance and helping them find their way in the hospital.
Steele, who said 153 students have been part of the program, explained it has achieved its goal of providing area students with hands on experience and a much greater knowledge and appreciation for what goes on behind the doors of their community hospital.
“There’s a lot more going on in hospitals than just people working as doctors and nurses,” Steele said. “Some of our current Youth Ambassadors will be able to continue to volunteer at the hospital in the upcoming year. We hope to add to our ranks by opening up the program to new applicants and open up the world of the hospital to more students in our area.”
Additional information about the TCMH Youth Ambassadors and the application for the program is available from Steele or area guidance counselors. Steele can also be reached at 417-967-1236 or administration@tcmh.org.
The application deadline is Sept. 15.