Green Ladies and Gentlemen
Visiting service
For patients, there is a visiting service at Johanniter-Krankenhaus Gronau, the so-called “Green Ladies & Gentlemen”. Three times a week these volunteers come to our hospital to offer their help. In the current Coronavirus landscape, the visits are suspended for the time being. The Green Ladies and Gentlemen nevertheless support us in other areas.
History of the "Green Ladies”
Brigitte Schröder founded the first group of "Green Ladies" in Germany in 1969 at the Protestant Hospital in Düsseldorf. It was modelled on the "Volunteer Service" in the USA. Since then, about 11,000 ladies and gentlemen have come together in Germany to perform this voluntary work within a wide variety of hospitals and institutions for the elderly. This layperson help is under the umbrella of the Working Group of Protestant Hospital Aid (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Evangelische Krankenhaushilfe e.V.).
Visiting service with us
In summer 2004, the "Green Ladies" were established at Johanniter-Krankenhaus Gronau under the leadership of Ute Matzke, who was succeeded by Birgit Rieche on 1st of April 2016. Eleven "Green Ladies" are now involved in the visiting service. It is impossible to imagine everyday hospital life without them.
Specific help from the ladies
Three times a week, the "Green Ladies" go around the wards in the hospital to talk to the patients and offer their help.
On Friday evenings, they provide support at the weekly devotions.
The voluntary helpers regularly attend further training courses in their own hospital or at a national level to reflect on their own work and to draw new strength.