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Delaware's First Lady Recognizes Beebe Medical Center Volunteers in Millville

05/20/10

Delaware's First Lady Carla Markell stopped by Beebe Medical Center's Beebe Imaging facility in Millville on May 19 to take a few minutes to recognize and thank the volunteers helping out at the facility.

Volunteers are people who make it happen, Mrs. Markell said as she talked to Beebe Medical Center volunteers and staff who had looked forward to meeting the First Lady that day. Mrs. Markell was accompanied by Millville Mayor Don Minyon, who had just introduced her to the team of volunteers at the nearby Millville Town Hall.

She is a champion for volunteerism, Mr. Minyon said. Mrs. Markell and Delaware Gov. Jack Markell together have championed volunteer efforts throughout Delaware. From the very beginning, when Gov. Markell was sworn into office in January 2009, it was decided to celebrate with a volunteer weekend instead of an inaugural ball. Earlier this year, Mrs. Markell kicked off the first Delaware Week of Service, and has led a volunteer effort to update the Governor's Mansion in Dover. She has planted a vegetable garden in the grounds of the Mansion to help supply food to homeless shelters. She continues to encourage people to visit the website www.volunteerdelaware.org, where information on volunteer opportunities can be found.

Our volunteers are very important to us, said Jan Hickman, manager of Beebe Medical Center outpatient imaging facilities. They make such a difference. I don't know what we would do without them.

Ms. Hickman said that the volunteers at Beebe Imaging greet patients when they arrive, help them fill out forms and answer many general questions. We are part of the community and our volunteers definitely make our patients feel welcome.

The volunteers at the Millville Imaging facility are: Betty Vahey, Diann Nazarian, Nada Argonish, Joseph Canalluzzo, Jeanne Rodgers and Carolyn Massino.

Volunteers make an important difference throughout Beebe Medical Center's facilities. Volunteers have supported Beebe officially since 1936, and are found helping staff and patients in many departments in the hospital and at satellite facilities. In 2009, they clocked 60,662 hours.

Mrs. Markell also toured Beebe's Imaging facility in Millville, which recently moved into a larger area in the Creekside Shopping Center, located on Route 26. The expanded space offers computed axial tomography (CAT scan), Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA scan) that tests bone density, ultrasound, digital mammography, and digital radiology, which has replaced traditional X-ray film technology.

Mammography is so important, Mrs. Markell said, adding, I am a five-year survivor of breast cancer, thanks to a routine mammogram.

After visiting Beebe's facility, the next stop on Mrs. Markell's agenda that day was to recognize and thank the volunteers at the nearby Center for the Inland Bays James Farm.

Caption: Delaware's First Lady Carla Markell met with volunteers at the Beebe Medical Center's Beebe Imaging facility in Millville. From left to right: Joseph Canalluzzo, Nada Argonish, Betty Vahey, First Lady Carla Markell, Diann Nazarian, and Carolyn Massino.

Caption: Delaware First Lady Carla Markell saw the mammography area when she visited Beebe Imaging Millville. Here, she takes to mammography tech Christine Minyon, who by coincidence is also the First Lady of Millville.

Beebe Medical Center is a not-for-profit community medical center with a charitable mission to encourage healthy living, prevent illness, and restore optimal health with the people residing, working, or visiting in the communities we serve. For more information, please visit us online at www.beebemed.org