Vernon Hills Resident Honored for Hospital Volunteer Work

A Vernon Hills resident has been honored for his volunteer efforts at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital.

The hospital presented Leslie Mutz with its Pauline C. Christie award at an April 16 luncheon.

The annual award was started 25 years ago by the Women’s Board in honor of Pauline C. Christie, a past president of the Women’s Board who began her work with the hospital in the 1950s. The Pauline C. Christie awards stand as a symbol of community members coming together to give back to their local hospital.

Mutz has volunteered a total of 1,310 hours since starting as a volunteer in August 2008, assisting the hospital in several capacities. He has served as a greeter in registration and at the visitor entrance. He has circulated the courtesy beverage cart to waiting areas of the hospital and has assisted in numerous disaster drills as a volunteer. He also volunteers in the surgery waiting room to connect families to the surgeon after surgery.   

“I wanted to volunteer in the neighborhood after retiring and have found a great group of volunteers and staff at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital helping the public here at the hospital,” Mutz said.

Also recognized for service to the hospital was Madeleine Bronson Dugan of Lake Forest, who is a recipient of the Lake County Cares “I Care Award.”  The “I Care Awards” are sponsored by Lake County Cares, an organization that matches volunteers with local organizations. The awards honored 12 local individuals this year for their exceptional commitment to volunteerism.

Dugan is the great-granddaughter of Mrs. A.B. Dick, who donated the original 23 acres of land upon which the current hospital sits. Dugan joined the hospital's Women’s Board in 1977 and for 36 years has contributed to the board’s mission of supporting the hospital through fundraising, volunteerism, and advocacy, giving more than 12,771 hours of her time.

“We are honored to recognize these two individuals for their longstanding dedication to our patients,” said Thomas J. McAfee, president of Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital. “Through their warmth and empathy for our patients and their families, Les and Maddie illustrate the value of volunteerism and exemplify the hospital’s commitment to quality and compassionate care.”

NLFH benefits from the dedicated service of 429 volunteers. In 2012 alone, volunteers donated 22,076 hours of service. Since 1951, hospital volunteers have logged 619,885 total service hours. Visit www.lfh.org/volunteer to learn more about volunteering at Northwestern Lake Forest.

— Information provided by Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital.