Our volunteers at HHCC are instrumental in our daily operations and make a huge difference in the lives of our patients, families, caregivers, and our staff. Truly inspiring, our youth volunteers often dedicate their time while balancing school and part-time jobs. We encourage you to recognize the hard work they do, and how important they are to our team.
One of our Youth Volunteers, Christopher, has a passion for healthcare and a strong commitment to helping improve the patient experience. He’s also a student at the University of Waterloo in the Biochemical Program.
Christopher was inspired to start volunteering at HHCC four years ago after he himself was a patient here. During this time, he said he “had great doctors and a great experience with all the staff”. They made him feel comfortable and even came to see him on their days off. Seeing the staff go the extra mile to make sure he and other patients were taken care of inspired him to start volunteering.
Christopher wanted to make sure other people visiting Headwaters had the same great experience he had. He also felt passionate about entering a career in healthcare and decided he wanted to pursue becoming a pharmacist.
While he was still in high school, he begun working at the Rolling Hills Pharmacy adjacent to the hospital and when he wasn’t working or in school, he would volunteer at the information desk and as a patient escort. Before he had even graduated high school, he was already dedicated and learning everything he could about healthcare. According to Christopher, one of the best parts of volunteering here is being able to relieve some of the stress of patients and help the hard-working staff. This is what has kept him volunteering here, year after year.
He loves that his role helps patients “take their mind off things”. Visiting the hospital can be a stressful time and he enjoys that he is able to take some of that stress away. Even just small talk is a nice and fun way to help patients feel more at ease. Christopher goes on to say that “there is a lot of good stuff” about volunteering at the hospital and it can be hard to narrow it down.
Auxiliary member Lynda said, “He’s friendly, very energetic, and very eager to help.” She continues, “He wasn’t here last Friday, and we really missed him.” Christopher is hard worker and has a positive impact on everyone he encounters.
Currently, Christopher is attending the University of Waterloo in the Biochemical Program. Since starting to volunteer at Headwaters, he has decided that he may enjoy working in the lab more than the pharmacy. He feels his personality and skills align more with a laboratory technician and is well on his way to achieve this goal.
During his free time, Christopher enjoys playing music. An avid trumpet player, he has now turned his attention to learning guitar as he “wants to learn something new”. He explains that he likes to take on new challenges and learning guitar is the next thing on his list.
Christopher has such a positive impact here at Headwaters and with his extensive knowledge and experience in healthcare at such a young age he will surely make an amazing healthcare professional in the future. We are grateful to have such compassionate, dedicated volunteers and can’t wait to see what Christopher conquers next.
Photo Caption: Christopher volunteering at Headwaters