Volunteer Spotlight: Mary Ramsay

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Name: Mary Ramsay

How long have you been a volunteer?
Nine years.

What areas do you work in/what sort of tasks do you do as a volunteer?
Patient care in the Care Center and nursing homes; events.

What made you decide to become a volunteer?
I was a nurse for nearly 40 years, so when I retired, a friend of mine who is also a nurse and works at Angela Hospice, kept saying, “Come try it out. I know you’d like it.” So I did. I came over and took the classes, and thought, “This is wonderful.”

I didn’t miss work when I retired but I missed the patients. I really missed the patients. This gives me a chance to be with the patients, talk to them, and help out if I can. It just makes me happy.

Mary (right) will fellow volunteer Dottie Wait at
Angela Hospice's annual Walk of Remembrance.
When I first came here I was so impressed with the kindness of the nurses. I worked in the ambulatory surgery area, where our focus was to get the patients in, do your thing, and get them home. Getting them home was part of our goals. And here, they were so patient and everything went so much slower and they were so kind, that I was just so impressed. It was wonderful.

What is your favorite part about volunteering?
I think being with the patients.

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