PALMERSTON – With limited access to healthcare professionals, residents in small towns are often left with no option but to travel for medical appointments.
Fortunately, transportation services are available, thanks in part to volunteers like Malcolm Small.
He has been volunteering as a driver since being laid off five years ago. He started driving for the Red Cross in Brantford, but when his family moved to Palmerston, he began volunteering with the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON).
“I wasn’t ready to retire – I still had some stuff to do,” Small said in an April 13 interview.
VON client service associate Kathy Higdon said the organization is lucky to have so many wonderful volunteers and she lauded the work of Small.
“Malcolm is very friendly, outgoing, and approachable. He’s very attentive and kind to our clients and makes sure they get from their door, into his car, and to their appointment,” Higdon said.
“He’s fairly new to Palmerston, so it’s nice that he’s jumped right in to help support the community.
“We have several clients that specifically ask for him now. And we do try to accommodate that if we can.”
Small said he feels elderly patients often have the greatest need, as they are less likely to drive themselves.
“The physician shortage is kind of pronounced. There are no specialists up here so [patients] need somebody that can take them from point A to point B and bring them back,” he said.
VON typically sends Small a list of required transport at the start of the week, generally limited to three trips out of town. This usually means travelling to Toronto, Hamilton or London.
When assigned shorter drives, he’s more likely to make four or five trips.
“It takes a special individual to volunteer,” Small mused.
“Not everybody wants to give up their time. I just happened to have a whole lot of it on my hands, and I didn’t like that.”
After a career spent working in a lab as a formulation chemist, Small was eager to continue serving his community.
“It was either this or go back to work and I can’t do that. I’m just too old for it. Nobody’s going to hire somebody over 65,” he added.
VON holds an annual volunteer appreciation dinner, which has been a drive-through event for the past few years due to COVID-19.
Higdon is hopeful the event will resume this year as a sit-down dinner, usually held at the Wellington County Museum and Archives.
To contact the VON or book an appointment for transportation services, email national@von.ca or call 1-888-866-2273.
