The Volunteer Services Department of General Hospital LAC+USC Medical Center serves a primarily adult patient population and an Outpatient Clinic with over 500,000 visits annually.

The Director of Volunteer Services has worked in collaboration with many hospital administrators, who have recognized the value of ancillary services, to create and operate a viable patient service delivery component for General Hospital.

In an effort to meet the needs of the predominately economically disadvantaged patient population of General Hospital, many special programs have been established to help provide patients with services.

Because of the varied backgrounds of patients, an emphasis has been placed on meeting the needs of the culturally diverse patient population. Volunteers come from many different cultural backgrounds, speak a variety of languages, and range from ages 14 to 85. Each of these volunteers contributes significantly to the improvement of the environment of care for the patients receiving medical treatment.

The size and complexity of the student volunteer programs are vast: Health Career Junior Volunteers (Candy Striper Volunteers), MED COR, Medical Laboratory Assistant Program, Regional Occupational Program, Department of Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine CMV, Clinical and Research Laboratory, Pharmacy Physicians Assistant, Physical and Occupational Therapy and Edmondson Fellowship. In June of 2005, 550 new volunteers were processed and are currently serving the staff and patients.