“Being a small part of the health care system as a volunteer...is so valuable to me."

[4 min read]

• Meet Alex Amedson, who began volunteering to fulfill an academic requirement but soon came to love the work and the connections with patients, caregivers and visitors.
• Working both as a volunteer in the hospital and out in the field visiting homes as a medical assistant has given Amedson a rounded view of a patient’s experience.
• Despite his busy schedule preparing to apply for medical school and working as a medical assistant and certified EMT, Alex still makes time to volunteer at Providence Swedish. 

It’s Volunteer Appreciation Week. Providence Swedish is so grateful to the volunteers who give so much to our patients and our community. We asked some of them to share what brought them to volunteering and what the work means to them. Meet Alex Amedson, an aspiring physician with a busy schedule who still manages ot make time for volunteering and supporting patients and visitors on their care journey. 

In 2023, as a college student with aspirations toward medical school, Amedson thought that volunteering at the nearby hospital could be a good choice for his clinical hours. Today, with nearly two years (and 300 hours of volunteering at Issaquah under his belt, the now-graduate looks forward to his Friday volunteer hours and has a deep respect and admiration for the caregivers at Issaquah, many he considers friends. Despite his busy schedule preparing to apply for medical school and working as a medical assistant and certified EMT, he still makes time to volunteer at Providence Swedish. 

“Being a small part of the health care system as a volunteer, and to take a little stress off the patients and caregivers, is so valuable to me,” says Amedson. “I think volunteering will also help how I give care to people – knowing there’s so much that goes into this experience that a patient has in the hospital.” 

Amedson (shown above on a ferry ride and below during one of his volunteer shifts at Providence Swedish Issaquah) spends much of his shift restocking cabinets, wheeling patients, answering calls and doing whatever he can to support our med-surg team, and the caregivers deeply appreciate him.  While doing all these odds and ends he’s met many on the care team that you wouldn’t normally come acrsoss as a patient – such as our environmental services caregivers who clean and sanitize our patient rooms, and those restocking our supply closets. All these interactions have rounded his perspective on working in a hospital for the better.

But ultimately, Amedson comes back on Fridays for his volunteer shift because he loves the community of caregivers at Issaquah.

“The reason I wanted to volunteer shifted right away for me; it changed to: ‘I want to go because the people are awesome.’ To be even a small part of this community and doing what I can to take off a load from the doctors and nurses is really rewarding. It’s a joy,” he says.

Amedson also enjoys the feeling of supporting our patients, reflecting on one instance where he stayed and chatted with  a patient for 40 minutes after his volunteer shift as they waited for the patient’s ride to arrive. He says it’s gratifying that every role that touches a patient or visitor can have an impact on their care journey.

As a volunteer, you get to be an additional point of human connection that a patient has while they are in the hospital. Being just one more person along the way that can support them is very worthwhile, Amedson says. 

Working both as a volunteer in the hospital, and out in the field visiting homes as a medical assistant, has given Amedson a rounded view of a patient’s experience.

“You don’t know what these patients are going home to, and now I’ve seen both their time in the hospital and the home," says Amedson. "That’s just one of the lessons that is something I can incorporate into medical school, and, hopefully, one day as a doctor."

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Information for patients and visitors

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