Members of the all-volunteer St. Tammany Hospital Guild this week presented their annual gift to St. Tammany Hospital Foundation, this year in the amount of $44,500.
The gift, presented during the health system’s 41st annual Volunteer Awards Luncheon to coincide with National Volunteer Week, will be used to support the healing mission of care providers at St. Tammany Health System, including going toward:
- Angel Eyes cameras for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Tammany Health System’s flagship St. Tammany Parish Hospital, so parents can visit with their newborns even when they’re not at the hospital.
- Blanket warmers for the Cardiology and Surgery departments.
- A vein finder for the health system’s Ambulatory Care program.
- Ongoing support for the Be Well Bus, a 40-foot mobile health unit dedicated to improving population health on the Northshore.
- Ongoing support for the Pediatric Department’s “Reefie” project, an extension of the foundation’s Healing Arts Initiative in which whimsical undersea sculptures created by Covington artist Robert Post are being commissioned to brighten the health system’s pediatrics spaces.
“We felt like these projects are extremely beneficial to the patients, and we just embrace the opportunity to give back,” outgoing guild President Ken Lane said.
Since the foundation was started in 2003, the guild has donated a total of more than $461,500 in support of its work, most of it generated by sales at the hospital’s lobby gift shop.
“The guild continues to amaze us with their generosity,” foundation Executive Director Nicole Suhre said. “This gift represents 20 years of giving, and their gifts have only grown! Whether through volunteerism, time or funds, the support of these dedicated individuals truly knows no bounds. We are deeply grateful for their loyal support.”
St. Tammany Hospital Guild was formed in March 1955, four months after St. Tammany Parish Hospital first opened its doors, with the goal of helping at the hospital however it could. In those early days, that included everything from maintaining the hospital grounds to making surgical dressings to sewing anything and everything that needed sewing.
While the specific contributions of the guild have evolved over the years, the spirit of service hasn’t.“Day in and day out, our guild members prove their dedication to the health of our community by generously donating their time in almost every part of the hospital,” STHS Volunteer Services Manager Shirley Primes said. “Working with them is nothing short of inspiring. They really, truly make a difference.”