Los Robles Regional Medical Center benefits from the varied talents and experiences that volunteers offer, ranging from high school students hoping to pursue a career in medicine to retired nurses. Although student volunteers usually work in the background, their contributions are crucial to raising the standard of care given to patients.
“It depends what department I’m in,” student volunteer Serene Panga said. “On Sundays I do float, which is just whatever nurses need, usually discharging patients or bringing them food, chargers, clothes and more. Mondays I do ER, which is just sitting at the emergency front desk checking in visitors.”
Junior Gwyneth Harris spoke on her average work day at Los Robles, saying, “A typical day is just discharging people, delivering food, doing specimen and blood runs, but that’s just float pool; other units have different jobs.”
Many volunteers see Los Robles as a launching point for their medical career.
“I want to either be a [Labor Delivery] Nurse or an ER nurse.” Harris said about her aspirations for the future.
Furthermore, giving back to people in need not only improves the lives of those who receive it, but it also promotes a compassionate and supportive community.
Natalie Mussi, who held the position of first female CEO of Los Robles Regional Medical Center for more than 10 years, has announced her retirement to take a new position as vice president of operations at Surgery Ventures.
Even though this is the case, some volunteers would prefer little change.
“There’s nothing I would really change, it seems to run really well,” Harris said, when asked about the preferred change under new management.
It seems as though the change upcoming for Los Robles has nothing to do with the volunteers more the employees and larger executive decisions. Under the management of Mussi there have been many accomplishments for Los Robles such as the purchase of the Thousand Oaks Surgical Hospital, the establishment of Los Robles’ Trauma Center, and many expansion initiatives.
Both the volunteers and the long term employees are hoping that whoever replaces Mussi will be able to maintain the beautiful ecosystem she created.