Duke Hospital, InterGom
Page 5
From
The
Auxiliary
Patients, with friends or relatives,
enter the portals of the Outpatient
Department with many fears—fear
of their illnesses, fear of the vastness
of the hospital, fear of being alone.
For many, it is the first time at Diike,
the first time away from the comfort
able confines of their well-known
areas which may be very small and
may be some distance away.
Doctors try to allay the fear of ill
ness ; Auxiliary adult and junior
volunteers try to help with the other
fears. How ? The patient enters—
stairs go up and stairs go down—
which way should he go? The volun
teer Receptionist at the desk helps by
listening, directing—and smiling.
After registering and paying his fee,
he is handed several papers and told
to report at a particular place, such
as ENT or Bye or Urology Clinic. He
is bewildered not only because of his
fears but also because of his inability
to read. The volunteer Guide escorts
the patient to his destination and in
the process becomes a listening post.
A Guide may come to work feeling
that she has the w^eight of the world
on her shoulders, but she will leave
feeling that her w'oes are negligible.
The patient and those who accom
pany him have appetites. Volunteers
on the coffee counter can attest to
that. The patient who arrives early
from a distant point is most grateful
to be able to get a cup of coffee—and
a smile. To be sure, there are some
machines which serve cokes when fed
coins properly, but most people react
as a young Korean journalism stu
dent does: “When T now stand in
front of a machine that gobbles up
my coin with that ungrateful ‘click’
and pushes me a Coca-Cola cup, I feel
awfully lonely. . . . The worst is the
machine that doesn’t even respond to
my coin. I have never felt so helpless
as when this happens. T can’t pro
test; T can’t argue; I can’t even en
treat. T am a complete slave to its
whims!”
Flinton Carden Dies Auxiliary Secretary
Named
N. Flinton Carden, Jr. ]\Iaky Daugherty
Flinton Carden, associated with the
Duke TTniversity Medical Center for
more than thirty years, died in Duke
Hospital May 21 following a long ill
ness. Employed on September 1,
1930, as a messenger at the front
desk, Mr. Carden was director of the
Duke Hospital printing department
at the time of his death. Mr. Carden
was one of the outstanding multilith
operators in the nation, and had
trained many men in this field who
now hold responsible positions in in
dustry. In addition to his work at the
Medical Center, Mr. Carden and his
wife established and operated the
Carden Printing Company in Dur
ham.
Always ready to lend a helping
hand and always interested in any
thing related to the employees of the
Medical Center, Mr. Carden was in
strumental in starting the hospital
picnic and for years took the respon
sibility for cooking at the annual out
ing.
Mary (Mrs. (Charles) Daugherty is
the new Executive Secretary of the
Duke Hospital Auxiliary. Born and
educated in Baltimore, where she
w'orked in an insurance office, Mrs.
Daugherty moved to North Carolina
after her marriage to Charles Daugh
erty, a chemical consultant and en
gineer. She has lived in Troy, Char
lotte, Siler City, New" Bern, Lynch
burg, Virginia; Portsmouth, Vir
ginia; and now Durham. She has
been active in church work and Cub
Scouts. Well liked by her colleagues,
Mrs. Daugherty has helped with var
ious branches of Auxiliary work, and
her cheerful manner, genuine interest
in people and willingness to assume
res{)onsibility was soon recognized.
She was serving the Auxiliary in the
dual capacity of Chairman of the
Coffee Service and Publicity Chair
man when appointed to her present
post.
The Daughertys have two sons, Joe,
a senior at Durham High School, and
Freddie, a sophomore at the same
school.
Our many volunteers do serve will
ingly, helpfully, and lovingly. If the
post is vacant, it is because there are
not enough volunteers. Do you know
someone who is interested in com-
nuniity service? If so, call MARY
DAUGHERTY, our new Secretary,
on extension 3981. Or do you want
the volunteers to be replaced with the
cold, unresponsive machine?