WSSDVS HistoryThe January 25, 1966 minutes of the Pacific Northwest Directors of Hospital Volunteer Programs reflect the first discussion of the feasibility of the hospital directors meeting on a statewide basis. Ethel Peugh from Providence Hospital, Seattle and President of the Pacific Northwest organization contacted John Bigelow, Executive Director of the Washington State Hospital Association (W.S.H.A.). Ethel was advised that the W.S.H.A. Fall Convention would have a large attendance that year, and if enough interest was generated by the D.V.S.’s, there could be a special section for them. Miriam Barnes, Swedish Hospital, Seattle; Helen Gustafson, Northwest Hospital, Seattle; and Dorothy Myhre, Stevens Memorial Hospital, Edmonds, were the committee appointed to follow through on this project.
The first Directors of Volunteers Conference and Meeting was held during the W.S.H.A. Convention on Friday, September 29, 1966 in the Triangle Room of the Yakima YMCA with 25 in attendance. Helen Gustafson was the Steering Committee Chairman. A meeting was held on October 18, 1966 to critique this first attempt at “getting together” statewide with all comments being very positive. It was decided to really organize and start planning for 1967.
Officers were elected as follows:
President: Helen Gustafson Northwest Hospital, Seattle
Helen Gustafson appointed Helen Manning, Lions Gate Hospital in N. Vancouver, BC to chair a by-laws committee. A proposal was made by the committee that consideration be given to the possibility of having the organization’s president and 2nd vice-president be from opposite sides of the Cascades “in order to facilitate the upgrade to the presidency”.
The State’s DVS’s did organize and by-laws were adopted for the “Washington State Hospital Association Directors of Volunteers Section”. Dues of $10.00 were collected in 1968 from 25 women. A year later the by-laws were amended and the organization’s name was changed to WSHA Staff Directors of Volunteer Services.
In October, 1974 Sarah Haeffner, Ballard Community Hospital, Seattle, made a motion to the membership that a Spring Workshop be held in addition to the Fall Conference. This motion was approved by the membership and the first Spring Conference was held in April 1975.
Another milestone occurred in 1976 when President Leona Nealey, Providence Hospital, Seattle mailed out the first newsletter to all D.V.S.’s.
In 1978, there was a by-laws revision reflecting another name change to Washington State Hospital Association/Directors of Volunteer Services (WSHA/DVS), removing the word “staff”.
A ballot was sent to the membership of WSHA/DVS for a vote that would once again change the organization’s name to the Washington State Society of Directors of Volunteer Services with a by-line “in health care institutions”. The reason for this name change was because unlike ASDVS, WSHA does not have affiliated groups. At the April 1982 Business Meeting, President Margie Harris announced that 30 ballots had been returned unanimously in favor of the name change; and revised copies of the by-laws, incorporating the change, were handed out to those present.
One of the goals of the Executive Board for the years 1985 and 1986 was to see that a Resource Manual be completed for our membership. President Arlette Fraser and her office staff undertook this project and the WSSDVS Resource Manual was given out of our membership at the April 1986 Spring Conference. Thank you to Karen Stay, St. Joseph Hospital, Tacoma, and our President-Elect for having the Resource Manual printed and collated through her hospital’s print shop.
In March 1986 suggested guidelines for ASDVS Liaison position within affiliated groups was presented to our Executive Committee. It was unanimously approved that this position should become a part of our board. Margaret Wilson, Providence Hospital, Everett, was appointed our first ASDVS Liaison.
In 1999-2000 Carol Allen stated the main goal was to increase membership with a major recruitment effort focused by contacting all hospitals and healthcare related organizations across the state. Our hard efforts paid off when the attendance at our state conference jumped from 27 in 1998 to 49 in 1999. We tried our first venture of co-hosting a WA/OR joint conference in 2000. In 2000 our membership was 45 members and in 2001 we increased to 61 members.Past President Susan Colliander fondly remembers the joint conference planning with Oregon andin 2002 planning began for the ASDVS National Conference to be held in Seattle in 2003. It was a huge success with Seattle boasting a record-breaking number in attendance
In 2005 under the leadership of Claudia Peters, a major accomplishment was the joint collaboration of the WSAHA (State Auxiliary) and WSSDVS Fall Conference held in Spokane. Attendance was excellent and enjoyed by all. However, with the ASDVS National Conference always held in the Fall WSSDVS membership found it difficult to attend two conferences a year both held at relatively the same time.
Sue Oliver shares that in 2006 we increased from 72 to 79 members and in 2007 we increased from 79 to 85 members. By adding additional expectations and voting power to the Regional Representative position, our membership and statewide involvement has grown tremendously. In 2006 we were fortunate to hold elections for office where more than one person was nominated, truly defining the interest and enthusiasm growing throughout our state. Our new web site was activated and we are confident our grown will continue with this communication tool.
WSSDVS has grown in number, in professionalism, and in viability. We can only continue upward and onward!
*Special thanks to Susan Vukich, Northwest Hospital, Seattle for researching the history of WSSDVS and providing the list of past-presidents from the notes given to her by Sarah Haeffner, former DVS at Ballard Hospital, Seattle.
