Page 80 - Southern Oregon Magazine Winter 2018

feature | caring for body & soul

Mended Hearts are trained
and accredited Volunteer
Visitors for Asante Rogue
Regional Medical Center
heart surgery patients.

ASANTE Mended Hearts

At times, our lives take a sharp turn into uncharted territory by means who has been in the bed and is now thriving.” Add training, and these
of a single sentence. Perhaps that sentence signals the end of a rela- folks (in their 20s and up) offer the patient—and the patient’s personal
tionship or delivers a doctor’s diagnosis. For some, it is facing heart care-unit—physical, emotional, and spiritual guidance, information,
surgery. A trip to the Internet yields descriptions of the surgery and and encouragement.
the potential pitfalls. Bottom line, the prospect is scary, whether the
surgery is major or minor. Volunteer Visitors can literally enhance physical healing and improve
the quality of life for heart patients and their families by walking along-
This is where Mended Hearts comes in. “Mended Hearts’ trained and side them through ongoing peer-to-peer support. Someone gives the
accredited Volunteer Visitors visit Asante Rogue Regional Medical patient a tour of the hospital before surgery and explains what’s going
Center heart surgery patients to give them hope and encouragement,” to happen. A volunteer will be there the day of and the day after sur-
according to Laura Nicholson, Asante’s Volunteer Services Coordinator. gery. In some cases, a patient might feel more comfortable talking with
“To be a Volunteer Visitor,” she says, “one must be a heart surgery sur- a volunteer about some issues than with a physician.
vivor (or the loved one of a heart surgery survivor who visits with
the previous heart surgery patient) so that the patient sees someone Visitors give patients hope. “A prescription of hope can do wonders for

78 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | winter 2018