A FRIENDLIER RECEPTION:
Department Store Employees Make Perfect Volunteers

MAY 7, 1996

The University of Tokyo Hospital sought the assistance of the Japan Department Stores Association to help improve its in-hospital services. The association responded two years ago by first calling on employees of member stores to serve as volunteers, and currently there are about 180 such volunteer workers.

The system is proving popular with patients at the hospital, which has seen a succession of inquiries and inspections from medical officials throughout Japan.

Volunteers in New Hospital Ward
Hospitals, especially large general hospitals, tend to have an image of being unfriendly, cold, and unapproachable. However, recently some hospitals have been working to rectify this with a range of in-hospital services based on the notion that hospitals are part of the service industry, too.

The University of Tokyo Hospital made the improvement of in-hospital services a major project for a new outpatient ward that opened in July 1994. It set up a committee to explore a range of possible responses.

The new ward is a large one, visited by thousands of outpatients each day. Confusion was anticipated at the reception and information counters at the outset, so the assistance of volunteers was requested. The task fell to department store employees.

The employees are professionals in customer service, and their employment terms give them alternating days off during the week. From the hospital's point of view, this made them ideal volunteers.

Endorsing a request from the hospital, the Japan Department Stores Association distributed posters to member stores throughout the Tokyo metropolitan region calling for employee participation. The call attracted 180 workers.

Reception, Information Services Prove Popular
The volunteers are currently offering their services for about three hours on weekday mornings on a rotating basis.

Patients have given the volunteers top marks, saying that it was easy to find one's way around even on the first visit because the volunteers were so kind and helpful. The hospital is elated with the system, too. "Hospital staff are inspired when they see the way that service specialists treat the patients."

One volunteer who has been working since the program's inception is enthusiastic about expanding the range of activities store employees undertake. From this past April, volunteers began escorting elementary and junior high school student inpatients to classes held inside the hospital and reading textbooks to them. The Japan Department Stores Association is now hoping to enlist another 100 volunteers to carry out these tasks to respond to the hospital's expectations.