UAB Synopsis, Vol. 24, No. 46, December 19, 2005
UAB is joining the national Bravery Hearts “Beads of Courage” program. Begun in Toronto last year, Bravery Hearts helps children dealing with devastating diseases or awaiting organ transplantation cope with their illnesses.
Effective November 14, pediatric patients at University Hospital receive a cord with beads that spell out their name. Each time these children under-go a procedure or treatment, such as chemotherapy or surgery, they add a wooden or plastic bead to their cord. Each new bead, unique for a particular medical procedure, provides an ever-growing record of treatment and medical history. Organizers say children at institutions in which the program is already in place tend to wear the beads as a necklace or bracelet, or attach them to their medical equipment or favorite toys.
“The beads make it easier for children to understand their medical conditions and communicate their concerns about treatment,” Jane Love, child life coordinator for UAB Cardiovascular Services, says. “They help children open up to medical staff, family members, and even other children. They become precious keepsakes, helping a child tell his or her personal story in a tangible, visual way.”
UAB Volunteers
Founded in 1949, the UAB Hospital Auxiliary administers the program. The auxiliary and its volunteers donated $805,807 in goods and services to UAB during 2004.
“The first volunteers were a group of civic-minded women who persuaded a local humanitarian and businessman, Thomas Tennessee Hillman, to open a charity hospital,” Director of Volunteer and Guest Service Kay Allen explains. The original Hillman Hospital stands at 20th Street and 6th Avenue South.
Today the auxiliary, working 32,312 hours for the hospital — an equivalence of 15.5 FTEs — funds projects including:
- Affordable lodging for 78 patients and their families at Auxiliary Lodge;
- The Patient Assistance fund;
- Contributions to the North Pavilion;
- Salary support for a chaplain;
- Salaries and benefits for three full-time employees, including reimbursement to the hospital for telephone calls, supplies, and special gifts;
- Pediatric playroom equipment, weekly Bingo, and a child-care video for all new mothers; and
- Custom-created Czech bead necklaces, with glass hearts, for sale in the hospital gift shop. Proceeds are used to fund children's programs.
“We recruit hospital volunteers from across Alabama and the nation,” Allen concludes. “Our work reaches throughout the globe exemplifying our credo, ‘Medicine that touches the world.’”
Meet Sally Stanley
Sally Stanley keeps a low profile. Her sign in University Hospital’s West Pavilion reads “Used Books,” but behind it lies a 10-year endeavor that has netted the University Hospital Auxiliary $37,000 in profits, and the gratitude of many book lovers.
The used book sale relies entirely on donations, many of which come from University Hospital employees. Friends of the Mountain Brook Library and the Homewood Library also donate books, which Sally picks up once a week. She and her committee organize a book sale every 2 months and sell them to patients, staff, and visitors at the hospital — for 100% profit, donated to the auxiliary. Sally says, “This sale provides reading material at low cost to many people who love reading and want to fill their homes with books.”
Wife of Robert Stanley, MD, chair emeritus of UAB’s Department of Radiology, Sally says, “The auxiliary is very important to me. It provides ‘a soft touch’ for patients and their families.”
Help in stressful, emotional times
Sally will step down this year as used book committee chair — but not from the auxiliary. “I could not imagine leaving the auxiliary and all the important work volunteers do at University Hospital.
“It is enormously satisfying to help patients and their families through what are sometimes stressful and emotional times.Volunteers discover, if they do not already know, that they receive even more in giving.”