Volunteer

Creating beautiful spaces

Julien first started volunteering with Providence in January of 2020 as a site navigator at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital. When staff invited him to help revitalize the hospital’s courtyard and be one of the main gardeners, he jumped at the opportunity.

Read Julien’s story

Life coming full circle

Toby Schmitt was a pharmacy student when he decided to volunteer at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in 2012. Ten years later, he was back as Dr. Schmitt, completing a portion of his residency in pathology.

Read Toby’s story

Helping patients look and feel better

Jay Hartnell began volunteering as a hairdresser at St. Paul’s Hospital in May 2017. In just over a year she had provided more than 75 haircuts to patients in need.

Read Jay’s story

Maintaining a much-loved routine

Stuart and his Rottweiler/shepherd/lab cross, Nugget, had been visiting the long-term care home every Saturday afternoon for almost three years when COVID-19 hit. Stuart and Nugget switched to Zoom for their weekly visits.

Read Stuart and Nugget’s story

The clothing depot at St. Paul’s Hospital provides essential clothing. We serve those in need who are receiving care at the hospital. We undertake this service in a manner that is compassionate and preserves dignity. Our aim is to provide for and support our patients with immediate and urgent basic clothing needs, particularly at the time of discharge.

If you would like to help us continue our work to serve our patients, the hospital and community, please consider making a financial donation to help us purchase new items for the clothing depot.

Make a donation (please enter “Clothing Depot” in the section entitled “Gift Information”). Thank you! Email us with any questions.

We gratefully accept donations of books and magazines for our volunteer patient visiting programs. If you would like to donate these items, please contact Beth Hazell at bhazell1@providencehealth.bc.ca or Mary Gallop at mgallop@providencehealth.bc.ca.

Examples of suitable people to provide references for you include:

• instructors,
• supervisors,
• coordinators of volunteers,
• teachers,
• employers or coaches.

Please include reference email addresses and telephone numbers on your application.

Depending on the requirements of the volunteer position, the application review, interview, orientation and training generally take three to four weeks. However, it could take longer. We have a legal, moral and ethical responsibility to protect the patients and residents in our care. Our goal is to find an appropriate placement for you and to ensure that you are fully informed and prepared for your volunteer responsibilities.

We are pleased to accept your application. Please note that volunteers with Providence Health Care are involved in the social and recreational aspect of the patients / residents lives. Any tasks or responsibilities that only a member of a licensed or regulated profession (physician, nurse, pharmacist, physiotherapist, laboratory technician, etc.) can legally perform are not included in any volunteer role descriptions. Volunteering will not allow you the opportunity to practice or develop your clinical or technical skills, nor are our volunteer roles designed to be professional internship opportunities.

Public Health requires all volunteers to have two COVID-19 vaccinations before volunteering. Effective October 12, 2021 for all long term care volunteers and effective October 26, 2021 for all acute care volunteers. Flu shot: It is highly recommend that all volunteers get a flu shot every year during the flu season (December to March). The flu shot is widely available and free of charge for volunteers.

Generally, shifts are one to three hours long, once a week. The maximum length of a shift is four hours. The majority of shifts are Monday to Friday during work/school hours but some sites do have opportunities on evenings and weekends.

We encourage volunteers to use public transit. While most of our sites do provide volunteers with free parking, at times it can be limited and hard to find.

Yes, upon completion of your initial four-month placement, you can come and see us about new opportunities and challenges. Volunteers are also able to switch between Providence sites without needing to reapply.

Volunteers can request a reference after 30 hours of volunteer service at our long-term care sites or 75 hours at our acute sites.

All PHC volunteers are required to wear the volunteer t-shirt uniform and their name ID badge. Volunteers must wear close-toed footwear. Clothing must be clean, comfortable and appropriate for a health care setting. Providence sites are scent-free, so please refrain from using perfumes and colognes while volunteering.

Yes, there is some flexibility in changing your volunteer placement, depending on the availability of opportunities.

Yes!

Holy Family Hospital
7801 Argyle Street
Vancouver, BC, V5P 3L6

Angela Merlo, Coordinator Volunteer Resources 
Phone: 604-322-2666 
Fax: 604-321-2696
​Email: amerlo1@providencehealth.bc.ca

St. Vincent’s: Honoria Conway-Heather
4875 Heather Street
Vancouver, BC, V5Z 0A7

Beth Hazell, Coordinator Volunteer Resources
Phone: 601-806-9858 
Fax: 604-321-2696
​Email: bhazell1@providencehealth.bc.ca

St. John Hospice
6389 Stadium Road
Vancouver, BC, V6T 2J9

Sara Parmar, coordinator volunteer resources
Fax: 604-806-9198
Email: sparmar1@providencehealth.bc.ca

Mount Saint Joseph Hospital
3080 Prince Edward Street
Vancouver, BC, V5T 3N4

Mary Gallop, coordinator volunteer resources
Phone: 604-877-8343 
Fax: 604-877-8152
Email: mgallop@providencehealth.bc.ca

St. Paul’s Hospital
1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6
Phone: 604-806-8279

Sara Parmar, coordinator volunteer resources
Phone: 604-806-8509
Fax: 604-806-9198
Email: sparmar1@providencehealth.bc.ca

Beth Hazell, coordinator volunteer resources
Phone: 604-806-9858
Fax: 604-806-9198
Email: bhazell1@providencehealth.bc.ca

St. Vincent’s: Brock Fahrni
4650 Oak Street
Vancouver, BC, V6H 4J4

Sara Parmar, Coordinator Volunteer Resources
Phone: 604-806-8509 
Fax: 604-321-2696
​Email: sparmar1@providencehealth.bc.ca

St. Vincent’s: Langara
255 West 62nd Avenue
Vancouver, BC, V5X 4V4

Stephanie Kulferst, coordinator volunteer resources
Phone: 604-806-9767 
Fax: 604-806-9756
Email: skulferst@providencehealth.bc.ca

Youville Residence
4950 Heather Street
Vancouver, BC, V5Z 3L9

Beth Hazell, Coordinator Volunteer Resources
Phone: 601-806-9858
Fax: 604-321-2696
Email: bhazell1@providencehealth.bc.ca