There’s a special place at Kootenai Health for teenagers who want to explore healthcare fields or just experience a volunteer opportunity.

The hospital has used teen volunteers since 1980, said volunteer services manager Renee Langue.

“Our intention for the program is to shape the workforce of tomorrow,” she said. “We have all kinds of opportunities here at Kootenai Health. Most of them focus on healthcare.”

But volunteering at the hospital isn’t just for teens interested in working in the healthcare industry. There’s a lot more it can teach, Langue said. Teens have to apply and do an interview, which teaches interviewing skills. They also learn basic job skills like showing up on time and learning how to communicate with co-workers and the public.

There are several different areas where teens can volunteer. If they work in the runners office they can do everything from delivering items throughout the hospital to escorting discharged patients out of the hospital. They can also work in the medical records office or the hospital gift shop.

One thing the volunteers will not be doing is anything directly related to patient care, Langue said.

“We don’t do any job shadowing or anything like that,” she said.

Lake City High School senior Tarryn Cherry has been a volunteer at Kootenai Health since she was in the eighth grade. She actually learned about the program a year earlier from a flyer at her school, but had to wait until she was old enough.

“I’ve wanted to go into health care since I was in the sixth grade,” said Cherry, who has logged nearly 600 volunteer hours, doing a little bit of everything along the way. “I’ve done a lot of patient escort and working in the gift shop,” she said. “It’s been fun.”

She said she thought it would be a good way to get a feel for working in the healthcare industry and help her figure out if it was something she really wants to do. Along the way she talked to a certified nursing assistant, who pointed her to the CNA program through the Kootenai Technical Education Campus.

Cherry now attends high school classes in the morning and CNA classes at KTEC in the afternoon. She plans to eventually become a nurse.

She credits her volunteer work with helping her learn to be professional.

“It helps me be able to talk to strangers,” Cherry said. “It was great training, even for my job at the golf course.”

Not everyone sticks with the teen volunteer program as long as she has, but Cherry has enjoyed it so much she kept coming back.

“I just loved being in the hospital as much as I could and being with patients as much as I could,” she said.

The program is open to all teens aged 14 to 18. They can apply for a school-year program, which is limited to 30 students, or the summer program which can accommodate up to 100 teens. During the school-year program students typically commit to three hours per week, which can be done in the evening or weekends.

“Most of these students are very involved in after-school activities during the school year, so we’re really flexible,” Langue said.

The summer program offers three different volunteer sessions. Teens are expected to work 60 hours during their session, which usually works out to five four-hour shifts per week. Teens who might work during the week have the option of volunteering for weekend shifts for the entire summer.

The hospital is preparing to hire its next batch of teen volunteers and the application is available online at Kh.org. Interviews will begin around the end of March or early April.

“We have a student leadership board,” Langue said. “They help with the interview process.”

There are other benefits to the program other than learning job skills. Students who volunteer more than 200 hours are eligible to apply for the Kim Svee Memorial Teen Volunteer Scholarship. Staff members are also willing to write college and work-related letters of recommendation for teen volunteers.

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INSET/BOX:

Interested in Kootenai Health’s Teen Volunteer program?

Teen volunteers aged 14 to 18 have the chance to work in a professional environment and learn about the healthcare industry.

School year: About three hours per week

Summer program: One, four-hour shift per day, Monday through Friday; or weekends.

Three summer sessions: June 15-July 10; July 13–July 31; Aug. 3–Aug. 21 (weekend shifts run June 13–Aug. 23).

Information: Kh.org/volunteer-services/teen-volunteers or call (208) 625-4645.