Voting in the Hosptal

Media Contact: Sandra Van ([email protected]) or Roberta Nichols ([email protected]) Ph. 1 (800) 396-1002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHLIGHTS: ìGoing to the pollsî takes on a whole new meaning when youíre hospitalized. Volunteers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center make sure that all eligible voters who want to, can vote on election day -- right from their hospital bed.

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS Barbara Colner, Manager of Volunteer Services

HOSPITAL PATIENTS CAN VOTE ON ELECTION DAY ñ RIGHT FROM THEIR BED

LOS ANGELES (October 30, 1998) -- Itís 5 a.m. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is quiet. The only people in the halls are maintenance crews, night nurses, patients signing in for morning surgery, and on this particular morning -- November 2, 1998-Medical Center volunteers. Why? Because November 3 ñtomorrow -- is a national election, and as Alison Rotter, Volunteer Coordinator, puts it, ìCedars-Sinai volunteers and staff are committed to seeing to it that every patient has the opportunity to exercise his or her right to vote, if he or she chooses.î

As part of its commitment to seeing that every person who chooses to can participate in the election process, the medical center has offered absentee voting to its patients for over 20 years. Volunteer Bobbie Leavitt has been a part of the program since its inception. ìItís amazing who signs up for an absentee ballot,î she says. ìMy unit is the Oncology wing and the Hospice. Many times terminally ill patients will want to vote. Somehow they just feel like its very important.î

Itís a complex process; in order to see that everything goes smoothly, volunteers and staff begin at 5 a.m. the morning before. The reason is simple; surgeries are typically scheduled for early morning hours, and patients checking in for morning surgery wonít be able to request an absentee ballot at 9 a.m., when volunteers typically begin the day.

To ensure that every patient is given the opportunity to sign up for a ballot, the volunteers commit to what amounts to two long days. While a few volunteers and staff members begin distributing the applications for absentee ballots to incoming patients at 5 a.m., most of the participating volunteers -- about 20, altogether -- meet at ìVoting Headquarters,î the Volunteer workroom, at 9 a.m.

Each volunteer is assigned to a specific nursing unit. This will be his or her responsibility throughout the voting process. ìVoting from a hospital bed is slightly different from voting at a polling place,î says Rotter. ìFor one thing, patients sometimes need help in filling out the application and ballot forms. To ensure continuity and confidentiality, each volunteer who participates is handpicked from the volunteer staff as a whole and must commit to following the process through from beginning to end. The patients feel more comfortable dealing with one person throughout the process. We select the volunteers who have enough flexibility in their schedules to allow them to commit to such a large block of time.î

Each volunteer is supplied with a log sheet and a stack of absentee ballot application forms. Every patientís name is recorded on the log sheet, along with their request for an application, or a notation of their refusal. Either way, a record is kept to be sure that each patient in the hospital at least has the opportunity to participate in the election process.

After every patient has been given the opportunity to either sign up for a ballot or to decline, and all of the volunteers have returned to Voting Headquarters, the applications are given to a designated Cedars-Sinai employee. It will be Ken Vacklavik this year, chosen, as are all of the participants in the program, for their reliability, responsibility and confidentiality, who takes all of the applications to the Registrar Recorderís office in Norwalk. ìWe always designate the same person to drop off and pick up the forms to ensure continuityóalso, they know then that they are responsible,î says Rotter. And that ends the first day.

On November 3, the volunteers again meet at voting headquarters. They sip coffee, chat, and wait for Ken, who dropped off the applications yesterday after 3 p.m., to return with the actual ballots. He arrives with the ballots any time after 9 a.m.-- and the volunteers never know when that will be. The volunteers divide them up, each taking the ballots prepared for the eligible voters on his or her unit who filled out applications. They are also given a few special instructions regarding confidentiality. ìEvery volunteer signs a confidentiality statement when they come to volunteer at the medical center,î says Barbara Colner, Manager of Volunteer Services.

ìWe remind them of that before we begin this process. We also ask that patients seal their ballots before the volunteers pick them up. ì The volunteers disperse, each returning to the same unit they canvassed the day before, and go from patient to patient, helping each to fill out their ballot, if necessary. ìWe drop them off and leave the room, unless weíre needed to help. We canít tell them who to vote for, but sometimes patients need help in punching their ballots. We help with that, if no family member is available,î says Leavitt. Rotter adds, ìIf a patient canít fill out the ballot on his own we like a family member to help them. If theyíre not available a volunteer will help.î The ballots are sealed, and the volunteers make another round and pick them up.

Finally the votes are all in. Aggie Garell, Director of Volunteer Services, or Colner gathers the ballots and drops them off at their polling place. Another election is finished. ìCedars-Sinai is committed to the idea that each person, sick or well, has a right to speak, and to be heard,î says Rotter. ìWhile we usually think of this right in terms of health care, national elections provide us with an opportunity to extend our commitment to our community, and to our national government. Itís only possible through the collaboration of dedicated volunteers and staff,î Rotter concludes.

# # #

For media information and to arrange an interview, please call 1-800-396-1002.