inside: - UCLA Health System

How long have you been at UCLA?
I started almost 20 years ago as an administrative assistant for the
volunteer office and was promoted to volunteer coordinator for
UCLA Medical Plaza in 1990. With the expansion of my responsi -
bilities to include our newsletter and special-events coordination
and production, I’m now a senior administrative analyst.
What special events do you particularly enjoy organizing?
Actually, I like most of them. Favorite events include
celebrating national volunteer week, recruitment drives, open
houses’ the fall Auxiliary Awards Luncheon and holiday
events. The Auxiliary Awards Luncheon takes months to plan,
and the 250 guests have a great time.
Were you in the healthcare field before coming to UCLA?
Yes, I coordinated the student and medical-explorer programs
at Little Company of Mary Hospital for five years. These
“I love working with volunteers.
It’s great working together with
such caring people who are doing
something out of the goodness
of their hearts to help others. ”
— Carey McCarthy
Carey McCarthy continued from page 1
As a UCLA Hospital System volunteer coordinator, what are
your job duties?
Essentially, I’m in charge of our specialty programs. These
include the UCLA Ambassador, Intern and Music Enrichment
Programs. I also assist with the Pet Animal Connection
Program and oversee three gift shops.
How do these programs enrich the patient experience at UCLA?
Our volunteer ambassadors are stationed in the main lobby of
the hospital and provide high-level customer service, directing
visitors to their destinations, answering questions and assisting
in any way possible. It has been such a success that the
program will also be implemented at 200 UCLA Medical Plaza
and at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center when it opens.
Our Intern Program provides students who can commit to
many volunteer hours an opportunity to work on special
projects for hospital administration or other departments. The
patient-affairs group relies heavily on these interns for phone
audits, patient-service programs and other needs as they arise.
Volunteer harpists and pianists are currently developing
and designing the UCLA Music Enrichment Program, which
promises to be a hit. Right now, we’re trying to determine the
areas where patients will benefit from live music the most.
programs exposed children to the many healthcare-career
options available and helped them to focus on a career
interest. I also enjoyed teaching at community colleges, using
my master’s degree in public health to teach subjects
including medical terminology and careers in the health field.
My mother was a nurse and I was always interested in the
medical field, but not as a clinician.
What do you find particularly rewarding as a volunteer
coordinator?
A special time for me is at the end of the day when volunteers
relay stories to me about what they encountered and
experienced that day. Sometimes the stories are funny and
sometimes they’re sad, but they illustrate that on a daily basis,
the volunteers truly make a difference in the experience of the
patients and the operations of the hospital.
It’s great working together with such caring people who
are doing something out of the goodness of their hearts to
help others. Our volunteers represent diversity in ethnicity,
background and age, and, to me, provide that special human
touch that makes all the difference.
How do you relax?
It’s almost impossible to relax with 7-year-old twin boys,
but we’re all huge sports fans and enjoy playing as well as
watching. The boys burn off their energy with karate, soccer,
baseball and basketball.
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