VOLUNTEERS OFFER FREE HAIR CARE AT HOSPITAL

A shampoo and set may seem like a small thing. But if you are in the hospital, feeling bad and haven't been able to shower for days, clean hair and a smart new hairdo may work better than any drug for lifting your mood.

So three days each week, volunteers at the Leona Bunch Hair Care Center at St. Francis Medical Center roll up their sleeves and wash, cut, roll and style the hair of patients there."People have told us we do more for hearts than most medicines do," said Imogene Foli, a professional hair stylist who has volunteered at the hair care center since 1976.

She and four other women volunteer in the program, named for Leona Bunch, who started the service at St. Francis' former location.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays they pamper patients in the center if the patient is ambulatory and in hospital rooms if the patient can't be transported."We've done hair in intensive care," said Foli, who noted a cart filled with hair care supplies can be wheeled into patients' rooms. "We go wherever we are needed."And because the work is done by volunteers, and supplies are purchased by St. Francis' volunteer auxiliary, the hair care service is performed for free."People can't believe it's free," Foli said. "They'll say, This will end up on my bill, won't it?' But we don't charge a thing."And while Foli, who spent her professional career at The Vogue beauty shop that was downtown, is the only volunteer in the program who has had professional hair styling experience, there have been no complaints from clients about results."There are ladies who will be scheduled for surgery and won't get their hair cut because they want me to do it," said Foli, who often disappoints patients when she tells them only hospital patients can enjoy her services.

The services are available to any patient. Clients include women, men and children."Men love the pampering they get here," said Levie Ann Govreau, who volunteers two days per week at the hair care center.

Foli said the services offered by the hair care center are a morale booster for patients. She recalled one woman who said she felt too bad to have her hair done. But once she relented and let Foli and the other volunteers do their magic, she was transformed."She looked in the mirror and said, I'm beautiful,'" Foli said.

Govreau told of a teen-ager who the volunteers serviced when she was confined to a hospital bed several weeks following a car accident. The teen proudly came into the center when she began using a wheelchair. She came back to see the volunteers to show off when she graduated to crutches."When you have patients like that, it's hard to choke back the tears," Govreau said."We get out of this more than we give," Foli said.

Pat Miller, volunteer services manager at St. Francis, says these volunteers give a lot. Last year the five volunteers in the program worked a combined total of 2,300 hours."When we do someone's hair and get a smile, that's why we do it," Govreau said.