Contact:
Barbara Bauder
Chief Development Officer
Bay Area Hospital
541-269-8543
barbara.bauder@bayareahospital.org
BAH Seeks Volunteers To Serenade Visitors
COOS BAY – Scalpels and forceps aren’t the only instruments in use at Bay Area Hospital these days. A newly donated grand piano stands in the lobby to dispense the healing properties of music.
It just needs some capable practitioners to fill the prescription. (In other words, volunteer pianists.)
The jet-black Yamaha piano stands in the hospital’s new lobby, which opened in 2013 as part of a $55 million “Hospital of the Future” expansion. The instrument was a gift from several local physicians and their spouses:
- Dr. Tom and Deborah McAndrew
- Dr. Steven and Robin Giss
- Dr. Seth and Amy Giri
- Dr. Deborah and Steven Graham
- Dr. Michael and Su Stoll
- Drs. Frank Mukaida and Tracy Muday
- Dr. Charles Hurbis and Jillian Wightman
“Music is a great way to humanize an institutional space,” said Dr. McAndrew, a family practitioner who also chairs Bay Area Hospital’s elected Hospital Board. “We want the lobby to be a welcoming, healing environment for patients, visitors and employees.”
The hospital has recruited five volunteer pianists and aims to recruit more. They’ll be asked to play soothing, pleasant music for 45 minutes to an hour, once or twice a month. Every hospital volunteer undergoes a background check and health screen.
Interested pianists should contact Volunteer Services Coordinator Rachel Daniels at (541) 269-8083 or Rachel.Daniels@bayareahospital.org.
During times when human digits aren’t powering the piano, computer digits take over. The Yamaha is a modern-day version of an old-time player piano, with electronic technology taking the place of cogs and paper scrolls.
