Fitzgerald named Volunteer of Year for MHP’s Mahaska Hospice

Jayne Fitzgerald, left, was named “Volunteer of the Year” for Mahaska Hospice at a Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon held Nov. 2 during the Hospice & Palliative Care Association of Iowa’s Fall Conference. She is shown with Mahaska Hospice Volunteer Coordinator Lisa McNulty at the luncheon.

Oskaloosa –Jayne Fitzgerald of Oskaloosa was recently named “Volunteer of the Year” for Mahaska Hospice, a service of Mahaska Health Partnership in Oskaloosa.

She received this honor at a Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon during the Hospice & Palliative Care Association of Iowa’s Fall Conference in Ames on Nov. 2. Fitzgerald has been a patient care volunteer for Mahaska Hospice since November of 2009, and visits Mahaska Hospice patients in nursing homes, private residences and the new Mahaska Health Partnership Hospice Serenity House.

According to Mahaska Hospice Volunteer Coordinator Lisa McNulty, Fitzgerald is one of the most energetic and enthusiastic volunteers working. “Jayne’s love of people and of life comes across in everything she does, from driving a patient to visit his wife in a nursing home to assisting a nursing home patient with her make-up and personal grooming three times a week,” McNulty said.

“She has taken on many different assignments with Mahaska Hospice in her short time with us, and she approaches each with joy, enthusiasm and extreme respect for patients and their families. Jayne is a great communicator as well as a compassionate and kind person. Mahaska Hospice is truly blessed to have her as a volunteer.”