Volunteer

Healing music program

Musician volunteers play background music to patients, families and visitors, providing an place to rest and relax in a comforting and inviting area. Volunteers will provide musical entertainment in the main lobby or in the Acute Care for the Elderly Unit. If you would like to share your musical talents, we hope you'll consider joining us. We welcome musicians who play the piano, guitar, flute and all wind or string instruments.

The time commitment is a minimum of 60 hours, which may take eight months to complete.

Essential skills, requirements and qualifications:

• A healing music volunteer placement is typically two hours per week (fixed schedule with flexibility)
• Must be dependable and committed to scheduled shifts
• Fluent in English both verbal and written, additional languages may be beneficial
• Must adhere to all Osler policies
• Minimum grade six piano level or equivalent experience (for pianists)
• Must display confidence playing in public
• Must perform an audition

Please note:

• Applicants will have a mandatory second interview with department staff and must complete all required documents

To apply:

To apply for this position at Brampton Civic, Etobicoke General or Peel Memorial, submit an application and specify your area of interest.

Hospital elder life program (HELP)

HELP is an award-winning volunteer program proven to:

• Enhance senior's physical, emotional and social experience during their hospital stay
• Prevent patient confusion and progressive weakness

Volunteers are provided with specialized training and have a unique opportunity to work directly with patients. This is for people who prefer close patient contact and who wish to have a more hands-on volunteer experience. The time commitment is a minimum of eight months.

Volunteers must:

• Be reliable, discreet and empathetic
• Be diplomatic when talking to patients, families and staff
• Enjoy and appreciate older people
• Offer comfort and support to patients and visitors
• Be dependable and committed to scheduled shifts, or provide alternative availability for absences
• Have strong listening and communication skills
• Be fluent in verbal and written English (additional languages may be beneficial)
• Be able and willing to push patients in wheelchairs
• Deal appropriately with medical situations (e.g. bleeding, vomiting, etc.)
• Report any concerns regarding patients to a health care professional

Volunteers are required to complete HELP volunteer training. This includes one full day of class (eight hours) and 16 hours of “shadowing” an experienced volunteer.

Please note:

• All HELP volunteers must undergo an annual competency review
• Optional education lectures are available quarterly
• You must commit to a minimum of one three-hour shift per week for eight months
• At least 100 hours is required for a reference letter

To apply:

To apply for this position, submit an application and specify your area of interest.

Lobby connections

This isn't your typical desk job! It's a great way to learn about the hospital as a whole. Volunteers provide information, customer service, and wayfinding support to patients and visitors throughout the hospital.

This position is suited for volunteers who:

• Have good people skills
• Provide excellent customer service
• Work well independently
• Like to be busy and active

Essential skills and qualifications

You:

• Are friendly and outgoing
• Have excellent communication, problem-solving, interpersonal and public relations skills
• Are able and willing to cope in a busy, fast-paced environment
• Demonstrate professional telephone etiquette
• Are fluent in both verbal and written English (additional languages are beneficial)
• Have the hearing acuity to answer the phone and respond to inquiries
• Are physically able to push patients in wheelchairs
• Can stand and walk for long periods of time
• Are comfortable with close patient interaction

To be successful in this role, you will need to understand the layout and locations of hospital departments. Training is provided.

To apply:

To apply for this position, submit an application and specify your area of interest.

Patient and Family Advisory Council

Our patient and family advisors provide invaluable feedback to inform key hospital decisions and health system solutions.

Learn more and apply to become a patient and family advisor at Osler.

Patient Experience call centre

The service excellence call centre is where outbound calls are conducted to discharged patients to capture feedback on their hospital experience. Volunteers are responsible for acting as the voice of the patient by listening, capturing and clearly documenting the feedback provided by patients.

Essential skills, requirements and qualifications:

• Excellent customer service, communication and interpersonal skills
• Fluent in English both verbal and written, additional languages may be beneficial
• Ability to stay tactful in all situations
• Discreet, empathetic behavior and ability to exercise diplomacy in talking to patients, patient’s family and staff
• Must be dependable and committed to scheduled shifts or provide alternative availability to substitute absences
• Zero-tolerance for breach of confidentiality
• Must adhere to all Osler policies

To apply:

To apply for this position at Brampton Civic, submit an application and specify your area of interest.