KENWOOD — As part of her volunteer job at Jewish Hospital, Mimi Fagin has a variety of duties, ranging from taking preliminary admissions information to directing patients and visitors to their destination.

        But after more than 30 years as a Jewish volunteer, she's not one to stand on ceremony, waiting for someone to alter her job description to fit the case before she takes care of a need she sees.

Mimi Fagin of Wyoming has volunteered at Jewish Hospital for 30 years. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        Mrs. Fagin eagerly jumps up to grab a wheelchair for patients who come in and appear to be having trouble, or she will gladly take time to walk a patient or visitor to another area of the hospital.

        Her shoulder has soaked up the tears of patients who feared they would hear bad news, and she's laughed with them when their fears were unfounded.

        Mrs. Fagin has a ready smile, and a sense of humor that is quick to make others smile with her. The Wyoming resident passes out cheer three days a week at Jewish.

        Those are just some of the qualities that prompted Mary Lewis, a full-time Jewish employee, to nominate Mrs. Fagin as a hometown hero.

        “Mimi has been so faithful for 33 years,” Mrs. Lewis said. “She goes out of her way to help people. She goes above and beyond her duties. She has a wonderful personality ... makes people laugh. She gets along well with the patients and visitors. She's just an amazing person. I admire volunteers, and she's just outstanding.”

        Mrs. Fagin is one of about 175 regular volunteers and 45 teen summer volunteers at Jewish, said Jan Hoppe, Jewish Hospital supervisor of volunteers.

        Mrs. Fagin said she can't imagine life without volunteering. She and her husband, Richard, have been active with the Cincinnati Chapter of the Parkinson's Association since shortly after he was stricken with the disease in 1992.

        While that is one of her priorities, her work at Jewish is another. She began volunteering at the former site on Burnet Avenue in Cincinnati, and when it was closed in the late 1990s, she was one of the first to start volunteering at the Kenwood location.

        “I absolutely love it,” Mrs. Fagin said. “I love people, and it's a very people-oriented job. I work with the staff, the patients and the visitors. I really, really, really like the people I work with. This is just my calling. I do it to help, and I feel needed. If I had to stop for any reason, I'd be devastated.”

        She's eager to lend a hand, and doesn't hesitate to go the extra mile. “Once a man came into the admitting area and asked for a nervous doctor.” Mrs. Fagin said people chuckled at the term, but were unable to figure out what he meant. Finally he said he feared he was having a nervous breakdown and needed help.

        “I knew we no longer have a psychiatric unit, but I also knew we shouldn't send him back on the street in that kind of condition,” Mrs. Fagin said. “I decided to take him to the emergency room where I knew he could be evaluated and they could determine what to do.”

        “There has to be a very valid reason for me to miss my days at the hospital. If the weather is bad, I just leave a little early and go on my way. I take this very seriously. I know they need me, and I want to be there.”

        Do you know a Hometown Hero ... someone in your community dedicated to making it a better place to live and helping others? E-mail Janet Wetzel at jjwetzel@siscom.net or fax to 513-755-4150.

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