By Genevieve Wanucha
Tonya Clegg is the Volunteer Services Manager at Harborview Medical Center. She oversees a small department with a big job: coordinating all volunteer opportunities at the public hospital, a comprehensive medical care and surgical facility with a Designated Level 1 adult and pediatric trauma center.
Volunteers support Harborview in various ways, including visiting and assisting patients, staffing the information desks, and caring for the hospital’s public art collection. Beyond the busy clinical space, Tonya helps secure volunteers to assist at the Memory Hub, a dementia-friendly community center operated by the UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center.
“Every volunteer brings value,” says Tonya. "Everyone knows they're going to get good patient care at Harborview. But volunteers add that extra layer of care and empathy and that little bit of 'extra something' that medical professionals don't necessarily have the time for. Volunteers elevate the patient experience. They make it that much better. That's invaluable to us, and it's invaluable to our community.”
When Tonya started her position in February, she saw a lot of work to be done. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Volunteer Services Department furloughed its employees and temporarily shut down the office. Harborview lost its base of volunteers who were not on a pathway to a medical profession.
These volunteers are offering a little extra human contact with someone who has nothing but time to offer, which is rare in the hospital.
Tonya Clegg
Since starting, Tonya has worked to rebuild and digitize the department’s infrastructure. The department now has a website that provides updated information on becoming a volunteer, including available positions and the application. She also set up a new web portal for volunteers to complete and submit their applications, access their training materials, read a newsletter, and track their hours.
Interest in volunteering at Harborview has surged, and many positions will become available again in December 2025 and early 2026. However, the number of hospital volunteers who are older adults has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
“One of my ultimate goals is to help people, especially retired older adults, feel comfortable and safe working in a hospital setting and help them get back into the swing of things," she says.
Deanna Clark, Harborview Patient Relations Program Manager, provides part-time support to the Volunteer Services Department. Pictured: Asher (therapy dog) and Yang (guide dog puppy). Harborview also has therapy dog handlers and therapy dogs volunteering too!
Previously, Tonya worked for a grant project in the UW College of Education for six and a half years. In the 1990s, she worked at Harborview as a unit services coordinator in orthopedic trauma and as a research assistant.
“Harborview has always had a place in my heart, because it is such a great cross-section of humanity,” she says. “I always wanted to return.”
The Harborview Volunteer Services Department is piloting a program called Patient Experience Volunteers on several inpatient acute care floors. These volunteers offer people, many of whom are on extended hospital stays, comfort items and other necessities. Their carts contain items such as reading glasses, number and word games, markers and pencils, and adult coloring books. These volunteers provide conversation and assess whether the person needs extra attention or help organizing their things. Tonya loves it when she can pair a patient with a volunteer who can speak with them in their first language.
“These volunteers are offering a little extra human contact with someone who has nothing but time to offer, which is rare in the hospital,” she says.
Harborview also operates the mHELP (mini-Hospital Elder Life Program). This national geriatric care program aims to reduce and prevent hospital-induced delirium, using non-pharmaceutical approaches. Delirium is a state of confusion and disorientation that can occur after a significant change in an older adult's routine or health. In this program, mHELP volunteers are trained to interact with at-risk patients, helping to keep them nourished and engaged during their hospital stay.
Tonya also provides information about the Front Desk Volunteer position at the Memory Hub community center. These volunteers are the first contact that visitors have upon entering. Each volunteer brings a compassionate and helpful spirit, respect, and kindness for individuals living with memory loss and their caregivers.
The front desk at the Memory Hub
“The Memory Hub is excellent for a volunteer who wants a different vibe than the inpatient hospital,” says Tonya. “I think a lot of people have personal experience with dementia or memory loss in a loved one, so I think this is an attractive spot. I am incredibly excited to say that the Memory Hub is part of our volunteering opportunities.”
Earlier in the year, Tonya visited the Memory Hub to assist new Front Desk Volunteers in completing their onboarding process for volunteering, and the experience left a lasting impression. "I wouldn’t have necessarily known this was a meeting of volunteers," she says. "These people were so organized and serious about their roles. They were light-hearted but also engaged.”
There is a reciprocity in the relationship between Harborview and its volunteers. Harborview needs dedicated volunteers for the extra dose of thoughtfulness in patient care; volunteers have many reasons for giving their time and effort. Volunteers may need experience or service hours for medical school or high school or they may feel like giving back. They may be former patients who give support to the unit where their life was saved.
For Seattle community member Kathy Bainbridge, who has been a Front Desk Volunteer at the Memory Hub, volunteerism brings meaning to her life while helping a larger cause. "I think of volunteering as a donation. But not a donation of money, but rather of time. Giving my time to help an agency do its job is important to me," she said. "I love meeting people and I always learn something new in every volunteering experience."
Looking forward, Tonya aims to strengthen connections with the community and explore additional volunteer opportunities that could occur outside the hospital itself. Tonya plans to start connecting with the many retirement communities in the First Hill neighborhood. •
Become a Front Desk Volunteer!
Do you enjoy hospitality and connecting with people? Would you like to be part of building a welcoming, engaging space for people with memory loss and their families? The Memory Hub is looking for a few people with interest in becoming a Front Desk Volunteer. Consider joining the team of Front Desk Volunteers and help building a dementia-friendly community at The Memory Hub.
