Grandfather-grandson duo help out at hospital

It is not unusual for a teenager to volunteer at a hospital, nor is it unusual for a retiree to serve as a hospital volunteer.

But there's only one grandfather-grandson volunteer team at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

And maybe even more unusual: it was the grandson who instigated the partnership.

"Papa, they sure could use you at the hospital," Matt Wurz of Des Plaines told his grandfather after picking up a volunteer application. It didn't take much coaxing for John Bratu of Mount Prospect to agree.

Wurz was spurred to act after the death of his great uncle who was a patient at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. He wanted to do something that would have made his uncle proud and would also help others.

Volunteering has also solidified his decision to do something in the medical field as a career.

"Seeing a smile on someone's face" is the most rewarding aspect of volunteering, he said, "because when I make someone smile, I know that I have done my job."

Hospital personnel are pleased with the pair.

"Both are extremely dedicated, hard working and extremely pleasant to be around," said Magda Scanlan, manager of volunteer services. "We love having them with us."

Wurz has been volunteering at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital for almost three years. He is assigned to the gift shop where he works as a cashier, stocks shelves and makes deliveries to patient rooms. He also fills in at the information desk when needed answering phones and assisting visitors by giving out directions and patient room numbers.

Now that he is 16, Wurz is permitted to work in the pediatric unit, and he has started coming in for an additional day to play games, visit and read to the younger patients.

Volunteer coordinator Georgia Paschos describes him as being "caring, mature, hard-working and responsible."

Wurz is a junior at Elk Grove High School and enjoys his grandmother's home-cooked meals, hanging out with friends, tennis, reading (especially learning about new medical findings) and is treasurer of his Science Olympiad Club. He plans to attend Loyola University, University of Chicago or Northwestern University to study pre-med.

Bratu, who worked before retirement as a salesman for Continental Can Co., has been volunteering at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital for about 10 months and is assigned to the escort services department, where he attends to discharged patients to make sure they get out of the hospital safely.

"The people are wonderful," he says. He tries to "help wherever I can, to try to leave things better than the way I found them and to keep a positive attitude."

To others who are considering volunteering his advice is, "stop thinking about it and go out and do it! Your community will benefit, you will feel good about yourself and you will meet a lot of wonderful people."

Bratu and his wife, Sissy, moved to Mount Prospect eight years ago and recently celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary and are the parents of four daughters.