St. Alexius Volunteer Wins Tribune Award
Posted on 1/26/2004
Jerry Haider, St. Alexius volunteer, was chosen as a winner for the Bismarck Tribune’s Annual Tribune Awards. Jerry was nominated by Julie Arnegard and MaryBeth Rohrich on behalf of the Admitting Department at St. Alexius Medical Center. The following content was taken from the nomination form.
“Every weekday morning at 5:15 a.m., a middle-aged, white-haired man enters St. Alexius Medical Center; dons a light blue jacket and begins to work. Jerry Haider is not a paid employee – he is a volunteer. He rarely calls in sick or takes time off, and is always there when you need something done for the patients and staff in the Admitting Department.
Jerry greets our patients at the door, with a wheelchair always ready for those in need of one. The kidney dialysis patients look forward to his personal greeting, addressing them by name as he takes them to their appointment with the dialysis machine. Jerry runs errands, escorts patients to their rooms and calmly, yet quickly, takes expectant moms in labor to the Birthplace.
On the days that Jerry is not volunteering at the Medical Center, our patients and staff notice his absence and inquire, ‘Where’s Jerry today?’ Even patients who have not been to the Medical Center in more than a year remember Jerry for the services he has done so cheerfully for them in the past. The staff in Admitting have come to rely on Jerry for so much that it would take another paid staff person to replace the care he has come to provide. He is especially a rare treasure to our department as he donates his very early morning hours to us, one of our busiest times of day.
At 7:45 a.m., Jerry leaves St. Alexius to attend daily mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit where he also helps out at most luncheons, serves funeral mass, cleans the church and serves as a Eucharistic Minister. Jerry also takes relatives to doctor appointments and runs errands for them, and he proudly served our country for 20 years in the Navy, stateside and abroad, before working for Farm Services.”
“Jerry’s whole life has been one of service — for his country, his God and His people. He is an extraordinary man who possesses an equally extraordinary gift, that of selflessly giving his time and self to others. For who he is, and for all that he does, the staff in Admitting nominate Jerry Haider for the Tribune Award.”
Congratulations to Jerry!