Spouses and brother-in-law volunteer to help community.
They’re the first people you’ll see on most days when you come to the COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) Southern Management Corporation (SMC) Campus Center. They check your identification, answer questions, direct you to the line, and, if you need help, take you by wheelchair to the second floor where the shots are administered.
Volunteering as greeters at the clinic has been a family affair for Paresh Dave; his wife, Amisha Dave; and their brother-in-law, Jayesh Goswami. The trio all have been volunteering multiple days even as they work busy schedules as technicians at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC).
They individually decided to sign up to volunteer at the clinic, but they have a common purpose.
“The main focus to us is to try to help the community during this pandemic,” Goswami said. “We always talk and try to make people more comfortable so we can help them.”
The SMC site became a fully operational clinic in January in a joint effort by officials from UMB, UMMC, and the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) to vaccinate their health care workers and front-line personnel. (The SMC clinic is not open to the general public.)
Dave had the idea to volunteer when he got his shot at the hospital in December and saw colleagues working there. After he started volunteering at the SMC clinic, his wife joined him, followed by her sister’s husband.
The three of them work together Tuesdays, which Amisha Dave said is an advantage.
“We have each other's back,” said Dave, who is a senior anesthesia tech. “It’s not like I’m going to let him down or he’s going to let me down. We stand in for each other, and we make things happen.”
The couple, who have been married about 20 years, previously worked at her father’s convenience store and believe the customer service skills they developed there have helped them at the clinic.
“Some days are light, and there’s not too many patients. Some days there are more patients. When there are more patients, there can be more problems,” Paresh Dave said. “I want to satisfy all the patients who come in here. We try to make them as comfortable as possible.”
They are stationed at the front of the Health Sciences and Human Services Library, where people coming for the vaccine first enter before walking down the hallway to the SMC Campus Center. Their duties include checking identification — and sometimes the difficult job of turning away people who aren’t on the vaccination schedule.
“If they aren’t on the list, I go to the main site leader and find out what’s happening,” said Paresh Dave, who is also an anesthesia tech. “I make sure what they can do as a next step and help them solve the problem.”
Laura Cathcart, PhD, training and exercise program manager, Office of Emergency Management, said the greeters “have one of the most challenging jobs at the site.”
“Patients’ first encounter at the site is our smiling and genuinely happy greeters,” said Cathcart, co-lead of the vaccine clinic. “They are always willing to help patients and unfortunately have to turn away patients who do not have appointments, which can be heart-wrenching.”
The greeters say that they’ve seen a mix of emotions from people getting their first shot: excitement, happiness, nervousness. Amisha Dave, who said she is a “people person,” likes to crack jokes when signing in people to help make them more comfortable. She also talks about her own experience with the vaccine. All three received their two doses in December and January.
“We try — as much as we can — to make them comfortable because I have done it. I cannot encourage them to do something if I haven’t done it,” she said. “I always tell them my story: We want to end this. We should be leaders in this. I always encourage them and say, ‘I had mine in December. I’m OK. You’re going to be OK.’ You have got to be an example, so I always tell them, ‘Don’t be nervous.’ ”
In addition to doing the initial check-ins, they help people navigate where they will go for the shot on the second floor, answer questions, and try to troubleshoot any problems. Goswami says a highlight for him is helping older people who might need a wheelchair to navigate the line or to get back outside to their car.
“It’s about safety first to me,” said Goswami, who works the night shift at the hospital as a sterile processing technician.
The clinic will soon transition to University oversight as other sites have opened that UMMS is helping to manage, such as the state’s mass vaccination site at M&T Bank Stadium, and UMB is receiving more doses for its faculty, staff, and students. The trio hope to be able to continue volunteering at the SMC clinic.
Above all, they want to make sure people who are getting the vaccine have a good experience.
“I like to put a smile on people’s faces. I enjoy doing that. That makes their day go smooth, and my day go smooth,” Amisha Dave said.