A husband and wife team who volunteer at Alta View Hospital went out of their way to help a patient who was facing numerous hurdles as he tried to make it to a doctor appointment. Judy and Jess Haroldsen, who’ve been volunteering at Alta View for 13 years, say this is just what they do.
Judy, an information volunteer, first spotted the patient at the entrance of Alta View Clinic. “He was using a walker and really struggling,” she says. Judy offered the patient a wheelchair and asked him where he needed to go. Then she took him in the elevator to his appointment, but instead of just dropping him off she waited until he got checked in.
“It’s a good thing Judy decided to stay with him because he ended up being in the wrong location,” says Crystal Osborne, volunteer services manager. “Alta View is a big campus with multiple buildings. If you don’t know where you’re going or if you’re not feeling well it can be confusing.”
It turned out the patient’s appointment was in the main hospital, not the clinic—which is a long walk across the parking lot. Judy pushed the patient back outside to his car and helped him load his walker into it. She gave him directions and made sure he knew where he was going this time. Then she called Jess, who’s a gift shop volunteer, and asked him to meet the patient with a wheelchair at the hospital entrance.
Back at her desk in the clinic, Judy could see across the parking lot and noticed the patient was approaching the wrong entrance. Without hesitation, she rushed across the parking lot to him, which is about half a football field long.
“I was worried about him being lost again and having limited mobility,” she says.
“At that point I’d been hearing from Judy about this patient throughout the day,” says Crystal. “Between her and Jess they coordinated getting him another wheelchair and helping him get to where he needed to be.”
Crystal says she was impressed with Judy and Jess, and how willing they were to coordinate and walk long distances for this patient.
When it was time for the patient to need a wheelchair again after his appointment, Crystal sent Jess and Judy back over, but it took longer than expected for him to be ready. “They ended up having to wait for the patient to finish his appointment, staying way past their shift. They insisted they didn’t mind, but it was very generous of them to stay late,” she says.
When Judy wheeled the patient back out to his car for the last time, she says they were talking and joking together like old friends. When Judy asked him if he’d have to come back again for a follow-up appointment, they talked about ways to remember how to find the correct building.
Judy says, “As volunteers we help anyone who needs it. It’s just an instinct to want to run and help someone who needs it. It makes me feel happy to help people and feel needed. With this patient I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
“Judy really saved this patient throughout that day,” says Crystal. “It was really special that she was paying such close attention and working so hard. She was really his angel, keeping an eye out. I am so appreciative to both Judy and Jess. I told them they are like superheroes.”