On ?? we had our first quarterly meeting of PALS. We met in the Employee lounge area. Little did we know that we had a very special treat awaiting us. Mrs. Alzima Toups had cooked lunch for us. She prepared boneless stuffed chickens, Rice Dressing, Sweet potatoes, and veggies. For our dessert, we had cake, coconut and pineapple. It was delicious and everyone ate to their limit.

The topic of discussion for our first meeting was progress. We introduced the many forms that we had developed since our organization. Several suggestions were made to make our program more efficient.

One of the biggest problems was where to put the group of volunteers when they came in to work. We were first put in the multi-purpose room. It was small but we could see its possibilities. Well, the clinic was expecting another doctor and decided to use the multi-purpose room for the new doctor's office. They moved us to the hall area under the stairs. Very, very small place. It was barely large enough to put in one desk but we managed to do it. There was no light, no phone, and we were always in the way. If more than one person came in to work it was a major disaster. Next they tried putting us upstairs in the lounge area. Big problem here was that we couldn't use it if employees were in there. The employees had a staggering lunch period. This cut out a period from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. This is the time that many could come in to work. Also, access to patient folders was limited. They were downstairs and the volunteers were upstairs. Several patients (and volunteers) had trouble climbing those stairs. After one day, we were back in the hole under the stairs. Bad news and good news, Bad News:the new doctor was not moving in and Good News: we got the multi-purpose room back. It looks pretty good now that desks and storage areas have been added.

We have a lot of work to do. Over two hundred people have asked for assistance. Hopefully we can do it and do it well. The meeting was over so every one went downstairs to work.

Last update: Tuesday, 8/31/04 8:31pm

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