Volunteer

For more than 50 years, volunteers have been a vital part of The University of Tennessee Medical Center.

Become a Member of our Team in Blue

Volunteer Services coordinates the activities of three main groups of volunteers: Adult Volunteers, College Students, and Teen Volunteers. Lifting the spirits of our patients and families is what the volunteer program is all about.

To learn more about becoming a member of our team in blue, read about our requirements and the benefits gained by volunteering.

Now taking applications for:

• Greeters
• Surgery lounge attendants
• Gift shop helpers
• Active folks who love to walk (you could log a mile or more a shift)

Apply Today

Our Volunteers Make a Difference

In 2017, 275 people volunteered across 52 departments throughout the medical center. They logged more than 38,000 hours, saving the medical center over $918,443 in labor costs.

Our volunteers range from age 14-95. Twenty-six percent are Teen Volunteers (14-17 years old), 14 percent are College Students and 60 percent are Adult Volunteers.

Why do our volunteers keep coming back? Because they are passionate about making a difference at the medical center and in their community. And they reap great benefits from volunteering, in happier and longer lives, and even in medical center perks.

Volunteering: By the Numbers

 1962: The first volunteers started at the medical center

1972: The Volunteer Auxiliary opened our hospital Gift Shop

750,000+: The number of hours volunteers have donated since 1962

14-95: The range of ages of medical center volunteers

Our History

The first volunteers began working at the medical center in 1962, and 10 years later, the Volunteer Auxiliary opened the hospital’s Gift Shoppe. Since that time, the Auxiliary has provided more than 750,000 hours and $2 million to the Medical Center.

Proceeds from the Gift Shoppe, along with other volunteer fund-raising efforts, provide equipment and financial assistance to various departments. In addition, all proceeds from vendor events are reinvested into the medical center. Here are some examples of items and assistance that volunteers have helped provide:

• East Tennessee’s first dedicated hospital K-9 program
• Expansion of the NICU to provide private rooms for families to stay with at-risk newborns
• Wheelchairs for patient transportation
• Special blood storage refrigerator for Lifestar to help with immediate lift off and response
• Rocking chairs for new mothers and surgical patients
• Digital cameras used in the intensive care nursery for family photo albums
• Blood pressure machines for patient care
• Blanket warmers for the cancer patients undergoing treatment
• Renovation of the Health Information Center and Preston Medical Library
• Scholarships
• Re-certifications for the nursing staff for the Magnet Program
• Proceeds to the Pastoral Care Program for patients with special needs

Current Volunteers

Already a volunteer? Access your account to sign up for shifts or make changes to your schedule.

Volunteer Sign-In

“Volunesia (noun): That moment when you forget your volunteering to help change lives, because it’s changing yours” — Anonymous