Our volunteers provide an array of important services, from designing new technology to inspiring the next generation of health-care workers. Whatever their role, all of our volunteers are working to enhance the quality of care for patients and their families. In honour of this year\u2019s National Volunteer Week, we\u2019re spotlighting some of our volunteers who have given us the invaluable gift of their time and dedication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre assists patients who have experienced a disabling physical illness or injury, helping them maximize their independence and rebuild their lives. Retiree Claude B\u00e9dard volunteers with the Centre, visiting patients in their rooms and providing companionship during their road to recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI find it interesting to just chat with them,\u201d says Claude. \u201cThey have such resolve and are so strong and so determined that they\u2019re going to adapt to their new lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For years, Claude would take patients out to Tim Hortons or Second Cup just to get them out of their rooms. With these coffee outings helping patients socialize, Claude got the idea to bring the communal atmosphere of a coffee house to the Rehabilitation Centre. After partnering with the Centre\u2019s recreation department, Claude and a few other volunteers began hosting a coffee club, serving coffee and good conversation to patients twice a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSome people are in the Centre for a while, so this is a great way to get them to socialize.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Claude wishes that he made time to volunteer during his working years because he finds deep joy in providing companionship to those in need. \u201cA volunteer coordinator once put it into words for me, \u2018If I can get a smile of out somebody who\u2019s having a real rough time, that\u2019s my paycheck.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are re-building our volunteer services slowly and will open a few opportunities every few months, so please check the website regularly for updates. We look forward to welcoming our community back into the hospital to help improve the patient experience! Visit our volunteer page<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Retiree Claude B\u00e9dard volunteers with The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre. After partnering with the Centre\u2019s recreation department, Claude and a few other volunteers began hosting a coffee club, serving coffee and good conversation to patients twice a week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":71626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[480,184],"class_list":["post-71625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-tomorrows","tag-compassion","tag-volunteers"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Meet more of our inspiring volunteers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n