'The heart' of Franklin Hospital

Beyond the almost constantly buzzing staff of doctors, nurses and technicians at Franklin Hospital in North Valley Stream, there is a group of workers who are just as committed to the 43,000 emergency-room patients and nearly 12,000 admitted patients who pass through the facility every year. But there’s one difference: the paycheck. For the 250 volunteers, there is none.

They work in just about every department, from the gift shop to the emergency room. At any given moment during the day, there are 15 to 20 volunteers assisting patients or helping hospital staff catch up on their paperwork. “They play an essential role in the hospital,” said Myra Cohen, director of Volunteer Services. “They volunteer in every area, and they totally enhance services.”

One key group, Cohen explained, is the volunteer patient representatives. They visit the hospital’s patients and make sure they have everything they need. Cohen described them as patient advocates.

Diane Keenan is one of them. “We try to make the hospital stay as close to being at home or being at a hotel as possible,” she said.

Keenan has been volunteering at the hospital for 15 years. In 1984, her grandmother was a patient there, and although she died, Keenan was impressed with the level of care she received during her five-month stay at Franklin. “I promised when I retired I would come and volunteer,” she said. In 1996, Keenan made good on her promise.

Arlene Veltri volunteers in the emergency waiting room. She escorts patients around the facility, gets them wheelchairs, calls family members and, like volunteer patient representatives, makes sure they are comfortable. Veltri and Emergency Department volunteers also help out the triage nurses.

“The nurses are very appreciative,” she said. “It gives them more time to take care of the other patients.”

Veltri, a retired teacher, said that a cousin who volunteered at Franklin encouraged her to come and help out.