Hospital Seeks Volunteer Youth Ambassadors

Texas County Memorial Hospital has opened the application process for area youth to join the 2016-2017 Youth Ambassador program.   Youth Ambassadors are area high school juniors and seniors and area college students that volunteer their time at TCMH.

Youth Ambassadors have volunteered almost 7,100 hours at the hospital since the program began in December 2009.  During the 2015-2016 school year, youth ambassadors volunteered over 1,100 hours.

“The Youth Ambassador program has been an excellent way for some of our area young people to get a taste for working in a healthcare environment and to provide a valuable service to the hospital,” April Steele-Clem, Youth Ambassador coordinator at TCMH, said.

The Youth Ambassador program at TCMH was created as an extension of the hospital’s traditional Auxiliary program.

The program is limited to 40 students.  Members are chosen from a formal application process.

Youth Ambassadors are required to go through an orientation and must commit to volunteering at TCMH for four hours each month.  The program includes three levels of volunteer achievement, and the three levels can be achieved based on volunteer hours and work ethic.

Since its inception, many Youth Ambassadors have reached the various levels of achievement in the volunteer program.

Several former Youth Ambassadors now have jobs working in the hospital departments.  Youth Ambassadors have also received educational scholarships from TCMH.

Volunteer duties include passing out fresh linens and filling ice water cups for patients on the medical surgical floors, greeting visitors and patients at the main entrance, and reading to and talking with patients in the hospital’s swing bed program.

With the new construction, Youth Ambassadors have played an active role in greeting patients and visitors at the new front entrance and helping them find their way in the hospital.

“One hundred seventy-nine students have been a part of the Youth Ambassador program, and it continues to grow each year,” Steele-Clem said.

Steele-Clem explained that the program has achieved its goal of providing area students with hands on experience and a much greater knowledge and appreciation for what goes on behind the doors of their community hospital.

“There’s a lot more going on in hospitals than just people working as doctors and nurses,” Steele-Clem said.

“Some of our current Youth Ambassadors will be able to continue to volunteer at the hospital in the upcoming year,” Steele-Clem said.  “We hope to add to our ranks by opening up the program to new applicants and open up the world of the hospital to more students in our area.”

Additional information about the TCMH Youth Ambassadors and the application for the program is available here or through area guidance counselors.  The application deadline is Fri., Sept. 16th.

Steele-Clem can also be reached by calling 417/967-1236 or 866/967-3311or via e-mail at [email protected].