Medical center volunteers give decades of service

Published April 23, 2013
By Steve Pivnick
81st Medical Group Public Affairs

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Keesler Medical Center would be hard-pressed to provide excellent care to its patients without the support of the almost 60 members of the facility's volunteer services.

The time six of those volunteers have given to the 81st Medical Group adds up to 180 years. That's more than 1.5 million hours of assistance, smiles, kind words and transport through the corridors of the more than 730,000-square-foot facility.

Louise Turpel leads the group, with more than 40 years of service to Keesler Medical Center. Dean Todd has given 32 years, volunteer services director Usa Jones has given 31 years, Frankie Petty has given 27 years, Margarite Edwards has given 25 years and Rosalina Jackson has given 24 years.

Turpel began her tour in February 1972.

The Ocean Springs resident said, "One day I was in the Exchange and saw a big sign asking for (medical center) volunteers and thought I could at least do that one day a week. When I started, we were still under the Red Cross. I would come in at 7 a.m. and work until 5 p.m."

Turpel started volunteering at the medical center in Internal Medicine.

"In the 1980s, when the hospital was being remodeled, I moved to radiation therapy when one of the doctors asked me to help out. I worked there three days a week. Later, the GI (gastrointestinal) doctors opened in the medical procedures unit and I worked there until Hurricane Katrina (August 2005)," Turpel said. "Before the storm, I volunteered three days a week and loved it! The only thing I didn't get was a paycheck. Since Katrina, I've helped out in the Volunteer Office on Tuesdays but miss helping out more often like I did when I worked at a clinic desk."

She added, "I still enjoy running into patients in the community. I also wish I had kept a journal of all the doctors I've known. I've seen them come and go; of course some have remained in the area."

Turpel's volunteer efforts have not gone unnoticed over the years. She was Red Cross Volunteer of the Year in 1984, one of six "Angels of the Year" in 1989 and City of Biloxi Health Services Volunteer of the Year for 1999. Most recently, she was honored for her service during the Dec. 7, 2012, volunteer recognition luncheon. "I was overwhelmed," she said.

"As a volunteer you get to meet a lot of nice people. All the volunteers are very devoted. I'm giving back a little; you don't volunteer for what you get out of it - it's a way of giving back."

Todd said he is proud to have been one of the original "escorts" who began service in 1981.

"The Keesler Medical Center chief nurse asked me and others to push patients to relieve the med techs and allow them to do their work on the wards. It was an instant 'pay it forward' for all the great health care I had received over my years of active duty."

The escorts can be seen pushing wheelchairs to the curb in front of the hospital, throughout the medical facility or providing patients a golf cart ride to the parking lot. They not only assist patients to get to their appointments but also answer phone calls and field questions from visitors and patients. Todd said, "It is about people helping people. When you are sick or disoriented, a 'What can I do to help you' may make their day."

In 1973 while still on active duty as a pilot, Todd began serving as a volunteer with the Keesler Federal Credit Union's board of directors, continuing on the board until he had to resign in 2012 after being diagnosed with cancer.

"It was a miracle I was able to return as an escort in January. I owe my life to Team Keesler's medical staff. It is about 'getting to' and not 'got to.' What a privilege it is to volunteer Thursdays with the escorts and other helping hands. I am thankful for every breath each and every day."

He credits his wife Victoria for saving his life as she cared for him during the grueling chemotherapy and radiation treatments he endured. "I would introduce her as the 'wind beneath my wings' but now I call her my guardian angel."

Todd has been awarded many service recognitions from the volunteer office but considers getting back to work with "the best of the best" and helping others his greatest reward.

He encourages others to become volunteers with the medical center: "We sure could use a lot more!"

He also is proud to be a charter member of Keesler's Daedalians "Hurricane Flight 40," a flying organization of men and women

Jones has been a volunteer since March 1983 when she volunteered in the dental clinic and women's health clinic three days a week.

Jones became the KMC volunteer coordinator in 2010 following five years as assistant to the late Emily Shelton, the longtime volunteer coordinator.

"She taught me everything she knew and asked me to take over when she no longer was able to perform her duties," Jones said.

Jones doesn't limit herself to her work with the medical center. She volunteers with the Kiwanis Club of Gulfport, the Krewe of Gemini of Gulfport, Mississippi City (Gulfport) United Methodist Church and Gulfport Retired Senior Volunteer Program.

Jones has garnered a number of awards recognizing her volunteer service. She was presented the Technician of the Month Award by the women's health clinic in November 1984, was named the clinic's Volunteer of the Quarter in December 1985, earned the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award from the City of Biloxi in April 1989, the Kiwanis Club of Gulfport's Outstanding Volunteer Service Award in October 1993,
Keesler AFB Angel Award for October-December 2008, the 2010 Keesler Volunteer Excellence Award and received the John Caranna Community Service Award from the Harrison County Triad in Gulfport in January 2012. She just learned she has been nominated and selected by the United Way of South Mississippi as a recipient of the 2012 President's Volunteer Service Award.

Jones noted, "Before Katrina, there were more than 200 volunteers; now we have around 55." Most assist in the main and satellite pharmacies. There also are five volunteers helping out in the chaplain's office, another in oncology, one in same-day surgery, five helping in the volunteer office and 12 escorts.

Petty started volunteering 29 years ago at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla.

"They needed dental assistants so I joined the Red Cross program there."

After moving to the Gulf Coast, she checked with the Keesler Dental Clinic to see if they had a dental assistant program.

"They didn't have one but later started one and I became coordinator. I worked there three days a week for three years. I burned myself out so I came over to the hospital and worked in cardiology and the chaplain's office. I'm now in same-day surgery one day a week. I definitely have enjoyed my time as a volunteer!"

Edwards, a Diamondhead resident, started volunteering in 1987 in the radiology film library then spent 15 years in dermatology before serving as a greeter at the A Tower entrance and then going to the pharmacy.

She has a long history as a volunteer going back to when she first became a Navy wife.

"I felt so lucky and needed to give something back," she explained. "When I was a Navy spouse, I did Navy Relief, interviewing patients and advising them about budgets."

Jackson, originally from Luzon, Philippines, began volunteering at Keesler Medical Center in 1989, has spent the entire 24 years with the pharmacy and is currently at the Satellite reception desk. She has also volunteered at Ocean Springs Hospital since 1997, helping out at their information desk.

She also became a Red Cross volunteer in 1991 and a member of the organization's disaster team in 1992 as something to do while her husband Norman, a Navy engineer, was on frequent sea trials.

"I travelled with the team to 37 different disaster sites," she said. "Among them was to the Los Angeles area in February 1994 for the relief effort following the Jan.17 earthquake there and to Guam in December 1997 after Super Typhoon Paka devastated the island."

Her Red Cross volunteer efforts were recognized by the Pascagoula Krewe of Isis in 2000 when they chose her Grand Duchess.

To volunteer, you must have a Department of Defense identification card. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. in the pharmacy. The escorts serve from 6:30 a.m. to noon or noon to 4 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and training Fridays. Volunteers help package and distribute prescriptions in the pharmacy and take vital signs in oncology. They set up refreshments for patients and family members, order literature, answer the phone and take messages in the chapel office. The same-day surgery volunteer serves as a receptionist and answers patient and family member questions. Escorts man the clinic entrance information desk providing directions for patients and visitors and furnishing wheelchair transportation.

For more information about becoming a volunteer, call 228-376-3415