Many hands make rewarding work
Volunteers are essential to helping Cheshire Medical Center fulfill its mission. They welcome visitors, comfort patients and families, and help with essential jobs throughout our campus. Cheshire caregivers are able to focus on healing patients thanks to the work our volunteers and staff do every day.
Become a Volunteer
Our application process requires the completion of an online application, an interview, federal and state background checks, and evidence of certain immunizations for documentation through our Employee Health Office.
There are many ways you can help
At any given time, more than 100 volunteers can be found providing valuable support across the Cheshire campus. From the ED or Radiology to the PCU and Laboratory, volunteers perform important work. They also spend time on inpatient floors as patient representatives, assist birthing parents as doulas, help out in the mailroom, provide companionship, and provide assistance at the Information Desk.
Volunteer Spotlight: Kerry Kelley Nurtures Our Community One Miracle at a Time
Kerry builds relationships and priceless memories supporting people through Cheshire Doulas, including her own daughter’s first birth.
Why volunteer at Cheshire Medical Center?
There are many good reasons to volunteer. Which is most compelling to you?
- Join our family. We treat each other like family and support and respect each other fully. You’ll make new friends here.
- Give back to the community. We are dedicated to serving the community; your work contributes to making the region stronger and healthier.
- It’s safe and healthy. Your health and safety are important to us. You’ll get whatever personal protective equipment you need to do your work safely.
- It’s fun. Volunteering is a great way for retirees or people who are looking to make new contacts in the area to get out, move around, socialize, and have fun.
- Gain valuable skills and experience. You’ll learn a lot and enhance your resume by volunteering at the area’s leading community hospital.
How volunteering at Cheshire helped me fight loneliness
After George Scholl retired from Electronic Imaging Materials, Inc. in Keene, he started looking for ways to stay active. Five years ago, he decided to volunteer at Cheshire Medical Center — and it changed his life.
Volunteer Spotlight: Four-Legged Frankie Makes Her Rounds
If you've ever had an appointment at Cheshire Medical Center and noticed a four-legged furry animal walking about wearing a blue bandana, then you’ve seen one of our volunteers in action.
Compassionate Companions: a role of active presence
As part of our Palliative Care program, Cheshire provides Compassionate Companion visits through our Volunteer Services department in collaboration with Spiritual Health.
Compassionate Companions are specially-trained Cheshire volunteers who visit with patients who are on Comfort Measures Only (CMO) in the hospital or those receiving chemotherapy in our Medical Oncology clinic.
Visits with CMO patients are meant to comfort and support the patient who is near the end of life and receiving care focused on managing their symptoms rather than to cure or fix an illness. Compassionate Companions can provide additional presence and support for family members who might be in the room with their loved ones and family members who cannot be there as often as they’d like.
Visits with chemotherapy patients are meant to help patients pass the time, provide social and emotional support, and add a positive element to the infusion experience.
All visits are meant to enhance a patient’s care experience and only happen if the patient or designated decision-maker has consented to the visits.
What Compassionate Companions do:
- Act as a calm, non-judgmental presence
- Sit with the patient
- Talk with and listen to the patient (and family if present)
- Share silence
- Provide supportive touch (if approved by nursing)
In the hospital setting, they may also:
- Read out loud to the patient
- Play music
What Compassionate Companions do not do:
- Provide hands-on care for the patient
- Offer medical advice or administer medications
- Offer spiritual support (unless the patient/family previously expressed wishes that others would pray with them or read to them from religious texts)
- Offer mental health support or advice
- Take the place of any staff member serving as a sitter for an agitated patient (in the hospital setting)
Would you or your loved one benefit from a Compassionate Companion visit? Contact Jennifer McCalley, Palliative Care and Oncology social worker: 603-354-5454, x2122; jmccalley@cheshire-med.com.
Become a Volunteer
Our application process requires the completion of an online application, an interview, federal and state background checks, and evidence of certain immunizations for documentation through our Employee Health Office.