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Lori Brullo

Sometimes people going through tough times just need someone to listen and, for patients and families in Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Lori Brullo is that person.

Lori Brullo, a volunteer with patient services at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, smiles and holds a baby at Penn State Children’s Hospital. She is sitting in a padded rocking chair and wearing a striped shirt and vest with the Penn State Hershey Volunteer Services logo on it. She has short hair and glasses. The baby is wearing a onesie and is lying on a blanket and looking up. Behind them is a crib with a mobile in it.

As a volunteer with patient services at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Lori Brullo takes a hospitality cart to family waiting rooms, patient rooms and the Emergency Department waiting area. The cart is filled with complimentary beverages, snacks, magazines, toiletries and backscratchers—bringing a few comforts of home to people wishing they could be home.

“I really just want to take their mind off worrying and waiting,” Brullo said. “I might talk with someone for a half hour. They don’t know me, but they know I care. It’s amazing how people will break down and tell you how long they’ve been there and what’s going on. They are so appreciative, and I feel appreciated.”

Brullo also volunteers once a week to cuddle babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at Penn State Children’s Hospital. She’s a four-year veteran of that activity.

“I love babies, and I just want to hold them and make them more comfortable,” she said. “I also love watching them grow and get well enough to go home.”

Brullo, 58, who has lived in Lower Paxton Township all her life, said she chose to volunteer at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center because she appreciated the excellent care she got when delivering her son and the wonderful care her mother-in-law received when undergoing cancer treatment.

“I’m very impressed with the doctors, and it’s a first-class teaching hospital,” she said. “I wanted to pay them back for all the wonderful care they gave me and my family.”

She loves the professional environment of the Medical Center that is, she said, “full of kind people.”

As the volunteer representative to the Medical Group Family Council at Penn State Health, Brullo is happy to contribute her ideas for making patient experiences better. The council meets once a month at the Medical Center, and Brullo marvels at how appreciated she feels for her service.

“Volunteering here brings me great joy and happiness,” she said. “There’s also a need in our community, and volunteering has always been part of my lifestyle since I was a teenager.”

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