For CGH Auxiliary volunteer Amy Wiseman, giving care started at home.

“I grew up in a family of nine, and when my parents got sick, we all pitched in and helped them, taking them to their doctor appointments and taking care of them,” Wiseman said.

Her parents died within eight months of each other, and their deaths gave Wiseman a new perspective.

“After they were gone, I thought I still want to keep doing that job, I want to do something for other people,” she said.

Wiseman previously worked at the former KSB Hospital, now OSF St. Katharine Medical Center in Dixon.

“I still wanted to work in a hospital setting,” she said.

While waiting for her husband to finish a medical appointment at CGH, she decided to see if any volunteer opportunities were available. That was four years ago, and Wiseman has since done a variety of jobs with the CGH Auxiliary.

“I work at the front desk now. I used to do the comfort cart in the emergency room. I also did the oncology runs, where we pick up the chemotherapy medication on the hospital side and walk it over to the clinic side,” she said.

For Wiseman, treating people entering the hospital like she would want to be treated is how she approaches each interaction. Her parents and their medical journeys are never far from her mind when she is greeting older visitors to the hospital.

“With that first meeting, that first contact, I want to make sure they are being treated how I would want them to be treated if I were their child,” she said.

She also makes sure to greet each visitor with a smile.

“A lot of them are there for what is obviously not the most happy time, so I want to make sure they are greeted with a smile. If that is the only smile and hello they get that day, I want to be that person for them. It gives me a lot of joy to be able to talk to people,” she said.

In addition to being a front desk greeter, Wiseman also is an enthusiastic cheerleader for the CGH Auxiliary and the hospital itself.

“The people we work with are fantastic. My boss is awesome. The volunteers are here because we want to be here. I think the whole organization at CGH is awesome, and they treat their people really well,” she said.

Staci Shaffer, CGH volunteer services director, said the auxiliary has jobs that fit all ranges of abilities.

“We have our greeters who greet patients and escort them to where they need to be. They can do blood drive calls. We have floor workers who deliver newspapers and get the mail, assist us with hanging flyers and making copies. We have workers who help with fundraising events and with the CGH Health Foundation. We have the golf cart shuttle in the clinic. We will work with them to find what fits them best,” Shaffer said.

Wiseman said the biggest challenge is not being able to answer some questions from visitors. As someone who has been a caregiver and who has brought family to medical appointments, she knows their frustration.

“People ask us things that we simply can’t answer, like how long procedures will take or how long do they have to wait. We simply don’t know the answers to those things,” she said.

Wiseman said she hopes that future generations will step up to volunteer.

“People have jobs and families, and it takes time to volunteer, I get that. But down the line, the next generations, if people aren’t volunteering, they won’t know what it feels like to do something for their community. If people just don’t feel like they want to do something for other people, if they don’t want to give their time to help other people, then we are going to lose a lot,” she said.