Make a Difference in Your Own Way

Health care reform is in the news and most of us have absolutely no control about the direction it will take or how changes will affect us.  But we do have control over how we manage hospital stays to help ensure the safety of our loved ones and ourselves.

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Other ways to make a difference:

Volunteer at your local hospital
Donate time, materials or financial support to a free clinic
Think about becoming a professional patient advocate
Are you a medical professional?  Think about specializing in gerontology

Volunteer at your local hospital

We know that hospitals have been running lean for years and errors often arise because of the stress and shortages of health care workers. In the past year, staffing levels have dropped further and we are worried about the impact on patients. For example, in early 2009, two teaching hospitals in the Chicago area—campaignZERØ™’s own backyard—each laid off hundreds of employees.

Every hospital has a volunteer bureau. If you have a kind heart and even just a few extra hours to spare each week, won’t you consider lending a hand to your local hospital?

Every person, every hour can help heal our health care system—and help protect our patients too.

Donate time, materials or financial support to a free clinic.

One of the reasons hospitals are strapped financially is that many patients simply cannot pay their hospital bills.  Lose a job, insurance stops—but cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other conditions don’t go on hiatus.

The newly unemployed and uninsured add to an already large population in our country of working poor who have never had access to health insurance.  Typically, these are people who work for small businesses that cannot afford to cover their employees and are not required by law to do so.

Free clinics offer care to everyone in these circumstances—no questions asked.  They often help people in other ways, too: dental care, vision tests, a warm winter coat for the patient who doesn’t own one.

Free clinics lighten the load on emergency rooms by providing preventative care. Free clinics make it possible for kids to stay in school, for workers to keep their jobs and for families to stay intact.

But free clinics are in trouble now too and you can make a difference:

• Volunteer your time at a local free clinic (find one here)
• Ask the clinic for a “wish list” and gather support from family, friends and neighbors to help fulfill these wishes
• Do you work for a medical supply business or a pharmaceutical company?  Do you know someone who does?  Don’t be shy — ask for donations!
• Organize a fund-raiser
• Make a donation yourself.

If you want to make a difference right now, go to HealthReach Inc. to make a donation.

This non-profit provides free medical, dental and vision care for the uninsured in Lake County, Illinois. HealthReach may not be in your own back yard but you’ll feel good knowing that you improve a life with every dollar you contribute.


Considering a career change?  Think about becoming a professional patient advocate.

There are two main types of career advocates:

• Advocates employed by hospitals to help patients and families address concerns with hospital staff and billing issues.  They are very knowledgeable about insurance policies and coverages, and a wonderful resource for dealing with insurance companies.
• Advocates employed by families (separate from a hospital) to stay with a loved one during a hospitalization.

There are online programs as well as some university programs for becoming a professional advocate. Stay tuned here for more information about these to come, but you can get a good start with a Google search yourself.

By the way, if you come across some great resources, be sure to drop us a note and we’ll share your findings here.

Are you a medical professional already?  Your skills are needed in geriatric medicine!

As you may recall from your nursing and med school days, your training included focus on obstetrics—the beginning of life.  But how much of your curriculum was devoted to geriatrics, the later stages in life? (We know the answer—almost none.)