Routine patient turnover subsequently feeds the hospital's need for volunteers, Sacco said.
"Unfortunately, it's a case of supply and demand," she said.
Pat Richardson, the hospital's volunteer coordinator, said she is looking for people to volunteer as escorts, assisting patients to and from their therapy sessions.
With various therapies scheduled throughout the day, escorts help save valuable time for therapists, she said.
The 140-bed hospital has about 200 volunteers.
"[Volunteers] also could help out with phones and with replenishing water," Richardson said. "They could even deliver whatever plants we have - little jobs like that are so important."
She is also seeking volunteers to work in the hospital's gift shop in the late afternoon and early evenings, she said.
Tom Sailor of East Goshen started volunteering as an escort four years ago, when his wife also volunteered at Bryn Mawr. She has since left, but his role has increased to include repairs and equipment maintenance during his Thursday-morning shift.
"When patients leave, the armrests and everything have to be sterilized," he said, surrounded by wheelchair parts and crutches of all kinds hanging on the workshop wall. "We don't want any germs, you know."
Volunteering at Bryn Mawr has made him feel lucky, Sailor said, and "it beats sitting around the house - that gets boring."
"The patients all appreciate what's being done here," he said. "You can't believe how many people break their hips or need knee replacements."
Indeed, the consistent gratitude is what has kept Gay Denny in the hospital's gift shop for the past six years.
"The hospital thanks you a thousand times, whereas lots of other places are always telling you that you could have done better," Denny said. "It's so nice."
The Chester Springs volunteer, whose responsibilities include hand-selecting the gift shop's greeting cards and setting up its seasonal displays, agreed with Sailor that the patients' attitudes make volunteering worthwhile.
"I can't even remember the last time I saw a patient who wasn't in a good mood," Denny said, straightening the countertop displays.
"You realize what a good life you have, when you see people in wheelchairs coming in with these huge smiles on their faces," she said. "They have such problems and such inefficiencies - it really makes you want to do things for them."
Kate Herman's e-mail address is kherman@phillynews.com
For More Information
To volunteer at Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital, call Pat Richardson at 610-251-5599.
