Myrna Weber spends her days keeping busy at the CHI St. Joseph’s Health Gift Shop.
The shop has been easier for visitors to find since the hospital moved to its new building in west Dickinson in December.
“I work here every Wednesday for sure,” said Weber, a Hospital Auxiliary volunteer. “The shop is arranged better and the location is a lot better. We’re in a good spot by the waiting area.”
When plans were made for a new building, the most important consideration was the location, volunteer coordinator Mitzi Swenson said.
“When the (original) hospital was remodeled, we no longer were by the main entrance,” she said. “It was hard for people to find us. So we have a wonderful location being in the lobby.”
The Gift Shop started in 1968 as a cart that was taken from room to room by auxiliary volunteers. Today, it’s the place to find a bouquet of flowers, a baby gift, snacks or a seasonal item.
“We provide a service for people who can pick up gifts for patients or for the staff’s families,” Swenson said. “A lot of times, people who come to visit the hospital like to take a gift to a patient, so we sell cards, flowers, candy, baby things, a wide variety of items that may appeal to someone who is hospitalized. We also have a regular crowd who buys snacks.”
The Gift Shop, while similar in size at it’s previous location, has new shelving and fixtures.
“We have a new computer system that’s easy to use,” she said. “We have a new flower cooler and most of the display things are new.”
The Gift Shop is managed by the hospital, but it relies on volunteer workers, primarily from the Hospital Auxiliary.
“We’re always looking for volunteers,” Swenson said. “Sometimes people are gone - different reasons - and we always are good about substituting for each other, but it makes it easier if we have a few more.”
Sailer is the lifestyles editor of The Dickinson Press.
