Naperville woman's career introduced teens to health care

She helped high school students get their first impression of health care careers for 18 years, and now Naperville's Pam Briggs is getting her first impression of retirement.

Briggs coordinated the Student Volunteer Program at Edward Hospital beginning in 2002 and also worked with Naperville North High School to welcome students in a Health Occupations class to the hospital twice a week.

Briggs said her career involved interviewing hundreds of students, overseeing their work as volunteers, writing them letters of recommendation and coordinating with more than 20 hospital departments to make sure young helpers had something productive to do.

She began working in the role when her three daughters were in high school or college themselves, and she found ways to harness youthful enthusiasm.

"I had teenagers at home and I felt like I could relate," she said.

Briggs established roles for teens to staff the information desks at each of the two lobbies, give directions, escort visitors, push wheelchairs and otherwise work as "critical support staff." She assigned teens to work in the gift shop and the flower shop, in surgical waiting rooms and in various medical departments, where they help with discharging patients. She found roles for teens who aren't naturals at people-focused positions, setting them up to do data entry and clerical work.

The program she ran had to disappoint some, because it couldn't offer hands-on experience with patients. But based on the emails she'd often receive from past participants, Briggs said, the work exceeded their expectations.

"They're anxious to get a look at the hospital, see how this works, see if they're comfortable in this setting," she said. "I love being able to give them this opportunity to get a look at health care and see how it really is, versus how it is on TV."

When Briggs started coordinating the Student Volunteer Program, it accepted 80 students at a time. Now it accepts 175, with application periods open each spring and fall. To apply, visit https://www.eehealth.org/ways-to-give/volunteer/edward/.

"One of the best things that the hospital can do for the community is to reach out to these young people who are very, very talented and willing to volunteer," said Kevin Clifford, a retiree who is himself an Edward Hospital volunteer and chairman of the hospital's Patient/Family Advisory Committee. "They're getting an insight that you can't get in a classroom environment. And Pam was so good with them and so well organized, they see that it has a purpose."

Briggs said she is enjoying more time with her daughters, who live nearby, as well as her three grandchildren, with a fourth on the way.

Hanh Nguyen has taken over Briggs' role of coordinating student volunteers, and Clifford said that leaves the program in good hands.

"It's a win for the hospital; it's a win for the kids," Clifford said. "It makes perfect sense."