by Wendy J. Reese Director of Volunteer & Guest Services

Dear Volunteers, Volunteer Supervisors, Internal & External Partners/Vendors, UCSF Health Leadership Staff & Faculty:

Welcome to our first all-electronic version of the new & improved volunteer newsletter. We value your feedback, and ware growing and improving because of YOU! We invited our current/active volunteers and our internal teams to suggest some new newsletter names & titles, and then our teams voted on the top favorites. Together we have chosen One Heart, Many Hands, as we feel that this title clearly describes what our volunteers do here every day at UCSF Health.Also, we are very proud to become more green with our quarterly newsletter now sent to you electronically!

Here are a few of the other ways we are growing and expanding in 2018 (We encourage and appreciate your feedback on any of this

• All of our volunteer marketing materials have been re-branded, and are now placed strategically throughout the hospitals at all main front desks and in our Volunteer Services Offices. 
• We are on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ucsfvolunteer/) with our own UCSF Health Volunteer page!  Please find our page, like us, and share with your friends & family. You may also submit ideas for other Facebook stories that are important to you with your experience…send your ideas to us at [email protected].
• We now have digital billboards (on overhead television screens) to advertise our ongoing need for new volunteers at all three of our hospital locations. Please use our marketing printed pieces to invite your friends & family to volunteer with us at UCSF Health!  Grab a few and pass them out while sharing about your experience as a volunteer.
  • We are now focused on:
    • our volunteer base
    • new volunteer programs in our healthcare system
    • toward 100% compliance with the Joint Commission (our governing body) by properly tracking data and hours served by volunteers in our Samaritan Volunteer Management System (SVMS)
    • a simple and seamless onboarding experience online to our volunteers and data to their volunteer supervisors for reporting-out requirements.

Now that all of our volunteers are successfully using our online system, our next phase is to bring all of our volunteer supervisors into the SVMS system as well.  Our pilot project, which currently has over ten program areas and leaders who are using and learning our new system, is incredibly successful. Together we are building Best Practices for a full launch in fiscal year 2019.

It is indeed an exciting time for Volunteer & Guest Services.  We believe in the power of team and of teamwork, and in lifelong learning & training. We appreciate the supportive collaboration of our volunteers, volunteer supervisors, and our other UC Health Systems’ volunteer program leadership, and with other partner hospitals who also have volunteer programs. We welcome your input on everything we are doing, and invite you to volunteer along with us!

My Very Best, Wendy Reese