Author: Leslie Toldo
When you check into McLaren Flint, chances are good, Mary O’Brien will be in Patient Registration to greet you.
“Anyone having anything done at the hospital has to come through us,” Mary said. “I check people in and, after they get their bloodwork, help them get where they need to go.”
Mary is technically not an employee, she’s a member of the hospital auxiliary who volunteers three mornings a week.
“It’s just nice. I am busy all the time. There is no sitting and being bored,” Mary said.
Showing people the way keeps Mary on her feet, and the job is a perfect fit for her after working for years as a teacher.
“I was a full-time teacher before I got married, then I worked for years as a substitute for K through 12. I mainly worked with junior high and high school students,” Mary said. “I retired when my husband got sick.”
After Mary’s husband passed, she wanted to stay active and engaged. Volunteering seemed like a perfect fit.
“We always used McLaren as our go-to hospital,” Mary said. “I watched those auxiliary girls working and I thought, ‘I can do that!’”
And ‘do that’ she has. Mary has been on the job since 2008. She looked at the list of available jobs for volunteers and found her niche in patient registration. She loves the work, and staff and patients love her.
“I meet people all of the time,” Mary said. “I also regularly run into people I haven’t seen in years.”
If you are interested in volunteer work, the auxiliary may be just the place for you. From helping patients get registered to making blankets for patients, the auxiliary has a variety of opportunities available. To learn more and sign up, call (810) 342-2009. You can visit mclaren.org/flintvolunteers for more information.