While The Bellin Health Foundation started 30 years ago, volunteers have served the hospital system even longer, originating in the 1950s as the Bellin Auxiliary. Today, volunteers are stationed at various Bellin Health locations including Bellin Memorial Hospital, Bellin Health Oconto Hospital, the Marinette, Ashwaubenon and Titletown clinics, the Bellin Health Cancer Team and more. Volunteers serve seven days a week, helping make Bellin Health a more welcoming place to patients, visitors and staff alike.
Volunteers include community members and Bellin Health retirees, including retired nurses Marcia Ward and Dorothy Treptow. Marcia was a nurse in the Surgery Department for 28 years, and Dorothy was an LPN for 34 years on the General Medical and Surgery floors.
Ward and Treptow say volunteering keeps them young. Ward began volunteer duties in 2011 in her familiar home in Surgery and has now been with Bellin Health Titletown since it opened in 2017. She has volunteered more than 3,500 hours at Bellin Health, including the Bellin Run and Bellin Women’s Half Marathon & 5K. Treptow came back to Bellin Health in 2010. She volunteers in the wound clinic three days a week and is a treasure to our employees and patients.
Ward and Treptow agree the biggest satisfaction they get from volunteering is the people.
“I enjoy the people I work with,” Treptow said.
“The patients are good to work with and the employees of the wound clinic make the work enjoyable.”
In 2023, 230 active volunteers contributed 21,768 hours to Bellin, saving more than $338,000 in labor costs.
Our volunteers are a part of our Bellin Health family, as they dedicate their time, energy and passions to make a difference in our health system. Their kindness and impact resonate far beyond our Bellin Health walls, and we extend our deepest gratitude toward them.