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Hospitals Rely On Cadre Of Volunteers

February 5, 2010
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Snow begins to pile up outside Providence Hospital in Northeast D.C.
Stephanie Kaye
Snow begins to pile up outside Providence Hospital in Northeast D.C.

By Stephanie Kaye

Many hospitals in the region have volunteers in place to help during the storm this weekend, after staff reached out during December's snowstorm.

Michaele Johnson is the Senior Director of Nursing at Providence Hospital in northeast D.C. She heads up the operations that set the hospital's snow emergency procedures in motion: getting staff in place, stocking extra food and supplies, and finding residents who have four-wheel drive vehicles.

"From our last snowstorm, we got some great drivers," she says. "We've reached out to them and they are available to bring staff in."

Although Johnson is putting out a call for "volunteers," drivers do get paid for their services.

"We take the necessary security precautions, in terms of verifying they do have a current license, that they have insurance, and just assessing the character of the individual."

As for Johnson, she and her staff are taking the storm in stride.

Interested volunteers can contact the Providence Hospital staffing office at 202-269-7148.

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