The original item was published from 5/10/2021 11:55:33 AM to 5/10/2021 11:57:27 AM.

News Flash

Office of Communications

Posted on: May 10, 2021

[ARCHIVED] Volunteers Give 94,360 Hours to Assist During Pandemic

Since December 2020, volunteers in Maricopa County’s Medical Reserve Corps have donated 94,360 hours of their time to assist in the effort to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. These hours represent more than $2.9 million in economic value.

The Maricopa County Department of Public Health's (MCDPH) Office of Preparedness and Response manages the county’s Medical Reserve Corps. The Medical Reserve Corps is a national network of more than 200,000 volunteers in 800 community-based units that work together to improve the health and safety of the community.

Maricopa County’s Medical Reserve Corps includes 13,673 active volunteers from a variety of backgrounds:

Volunteer Background	Count
Dentists	63
Emergency Medical Service Professionals	148
Mental Health Professionals	81
Non-Public Health/Non-Medical	10,211
Nurse Practitioners	204
Nurses	1,441
Pharmacists	152
Physician Assistants	88
Physicians	492
Public Health/Medical	744
Respiratory Therapists	16
Veterinarians	33
Total	13,673

Volunteers work multiple shifts and events donating, on average, 15 hours per month. Of the 13,673 active volunteers:

1,249 worked 3 or more shifts
874 worked 4 or more shifts
276 worked 10 or more shifts
1,060 worked 20 or more hours
480 worked 40 or more hours
8 of the most active volunteers have contributed a combined total of 3,764 hours

Medical Reserve Corps volunteers provide both medical and non-medical support for the county’s COVID-19 response, including:

Administering Vaccine
Call Center Operations
Community Outreach
Contact Tracing
First Aid
Logistics
Medical Observation
Patient Check-in
Pharmacy Services (Vaccine Preparation)
Registration
Traffic Control
Translation to 40+ Languages

“Before COVID, we already had a very strong core group of volunteers,” says June Vutrano, Medical Reserve Corps coordinator for MCDPH. “Once COVID happened, many folks reached out and wanted to help. With social media, we added a few thousand people and when the vaccine came in January of this year, we added another 10,000 volunteers.” Several thousand volunteers are currently undergoing screening and training that will further expand the operation.

The efforts of these volunteers have caught national attention, winning an award from the National Association of County and City Health Officials for Call Center Operations. The call center was fully staffed by volunteers when it opened during the onset of COVID-19, operating 8 hours per day, five days per week and tens of thousands of calls later.

For more information on Maricopa County’s COVID-19 response, visit www.Maricopa.gov/COVID19 and to get involved with the Medical Reserve Corps, visit www.GetInvolvedMaricopa.org.