By SUE ELLEN ROSS – Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – When Wilhelmina Armour suggested volunteer work to her friend, Barbara Mitchell, she painted a glowing picture of River Parishes Hospital.

Mitchell found her claims to be very true.

“She admired the staff and other volunteers, which made her work a good experience,” said Mitchell. “She told me I would also enjoy it.”

When Mitchell first signed up, she worked ‘on the floor’ and in the Admitting Department. The former included patient transportation and running errands. Her current assignment is in the Med. – Surgery Department.

The Reserve resident knows firsthand how important it is to keep a friendly, positive atmosphere in the hospital. Fourteen years ago, she was on the other side of her volunteer badge.

Heart problems kept her in the Intensive Care Unit for two weeks in 1989. “As a patient, I received excellent care,” she said. “My volunteering here is one way of giving back.”

At first, Mitchell’s family questioned her motives when she offered her time to the hospital. “But they changed their minds when they saw how happy I was,” she said.

Family has always been important to Mitchell. She has 21 grandchildren and one great-grandchild from her five children: Royal III and Desmond, of Reserve; Trevis and Dion Mitchell-Smith, of LaPlace; and Shannon, now deceased.

There are many benefits to the time she serves at the hospital each week, said the dedicated volunteer. Among those are the opportunity to keep an open mind, and to know her help is appreciated.

At the end of the day, MitchelI leaves the hospital with a smile on her face. “It feels good to know that I have helped someone,” she said. “I do consider this a job – but a pleasant one.”

She added that the mutual respect between herself and the nurses station staff adds to the good feeling. “We are in tune with each other, I want to help lighten their load a little,” she said.

For information on volunteering at River Parishes Hospital, call Claudette Henry at 651-1482.