Volunteer Opportunities

Group Health offers a variety of volunteer opportunities for people like you who are ready and willing to lend a helping hand.

Transportation Assistance

Seniors can face challenges getting to medical appointments. Family members may not be available, and maneuvering the bus system can be difficult. Volunteer drivers can make a big difference in the lives and health of Group Health senior members in King County. Volunteers are especially needed in South King County (Renton, Burien, Seatac, and Kent) and East King County (Kirkland, Bellevue, and Woodinville).

Driving can be a convenient, flexible way to volunteer. Drivers use their own vehicles to transport members when, where, and how often it works for the volunteer. Rides are offered Monday through Friday. Mileage is reimbursed and supplemental liability insurance is provided. No lifting is required.

To learn more, contact Lisa Hirohata, program coordinator for the Group Health Transportation Assistance Program, at 206-326-2815 or hirohata.l@ghc.org.

Resource Line

Resource Line volunteers become experts at using the Resource Line database while responding to callers' questions about their health education needs.

As a volunteer, you will receive extensive training in order to provide referrals for classes, support groups, meetings, and events at Group Health and in the community. We ask that you commit to working one-half day a week.

For more information, e-mail the resource.l@ghc.org or call 206-326-2800.

Group Health Medical Centers

Our Capitol Hill and Bellevue clinics need volunteers to help with the following:

Staffing the escort/information desk. Volunteers transport patients, run errands throughout the facility, give directions and information, and help in many other ways. Volunteers need to be physically able to transport patients and to walk throughout the clinics on errands.

Assisting in specialty departments. Volunteers assist staff in Urgent Care, Outpatient Surgery, Family Beginnings, and other departments as needed.

Assisting in Radiology. Volunteers assist with MRIs on weekends and evenings by interacting with patients and assisting staff.

Volunteer staff consists mainly of adults and college students. There are very limited opportunities for high school students. A commitment to working a 4-hour shift one day a week is required.

For more information or to request an application, call Volunteer Services at 206-326-2225 or 425-502-4415, or send an e-mail to troy.c@ghc.org or flodin.j@ghc.org.

Chronic Conditions Workshop Facilitators

Our Living Well With Chronic Conditions In-Person Workshops are for people with one or more chronic conditions, with the goal of helping them to feel better and more in control of their health.

These six-week workshops are led by pairs of trained volunteer leaders who follow a structured curriculum that includes learning sessions, brainstorming, skill building, and group sharing. Living Well leaders have the satisfying role of facilitating the workshops in a way that engages participants and has a life-long impact.

As a leader, you'll learn group facilitation skills that can be transferred to other areas of your life. Most importantly, you'll make a positive contribution that results in participants feeling healthier and more confident as they manage their conditions.

To qualify you need to:

  • Have a chronic health condition or care for someone who does
  • Successfully use skills learned from taking a Living Well with Chronic Conditions workshop
  • Be able to attend leader training that takes place over four full days
  • Commit to co-leading at least one six-week workshop within the first year of training

For more information and to apply, e-mail Karen Volpe, volunteer supervisor, at livewell.c@ghc.org.

Hospice

Hospice Care volunteers offer empathetic, nonjudgmental support and services to hospice patients and their caregivers. We carefully screen and train our hospice volunteers, who perform duties that supplement but do not substitute for professional services.

You must be 21 years or older and may provide support in patient's homes or in residential facilities. You may offer any of these services:

  • Staying with a patient so the caregiver can rest or take a break
  • Reading to patients or assisting with correspondence
  • Running errands, grocery shopping, and picking up prescriptions
  • Assisting with transportation to medical appointments
  • Offering comfort at the bedside of a dying patient
  • Providing comfort therapies such as massage, music, pet therapy, and so on

To learn more about becoming a hospice volunteer, please contact the coordinator in your region:

Snohomish and East King counties

Pati Northcraft
425-556-6372
Toll-free: 1-888-954-2509

Pierce, Kitsap, and South King counties

Julia Casey
253-274-4635
Toll-free: 1-888-781-3573

Seattle area

Sherry Kraft
206-326-4508
Toll-free: 1-800-393-0890

Volunteer Appreciation Program

Nominate a Group Health volunteer for the annual Cooperative Volunteer Appreciation Award. Nominations are accepted year-round.

Volunteer Appreciation Nomination Form (PDF)