DOVER-FOXCROFT – The Physically Challenged Club, an all-volunteer program provided through a collaboration of Mayo Regional Hospital and the Piscataquis Regional YMCA, recently received national recognition from the American Hospital Association’s 20th annual Hospital Awards for Volunteer Excellence.

The AHA named the Physically Challenged Club as runner-up in the Community Outreach and Collaboration program category, one of four categories in which national award winners were selected.

The Hospital Awards for Volunteer Excellence are designed to acknowledge the value of volunteerism to individual lives and institutions. The Community Outreach category promotes collaboration between health care providers and community service organizations, as well as instruction of volunteers on how to improve the quality of life in the community they serve.

The Physically Challenged Club was developed in 1988 by Fran Moore, a physical therapist and manager of Mayo’s Rehabilitation Services Department, in order to provide opportunities for the chronically disabled to continue rehab after their insurance benefits end. Club members use the YMCA pool each Monday and the fitness room Wednesday, under supervision of a physical therapist and trained volunteers.

“It’s just wonderful to have this national recognition go to someone like Fran Moore, who has been so dedicated for so many years to this program and the special population it serves,” said Ralph Gabarro, chief executive officer at Mayo Regional Hospital.

The American Hospital Association award is the second major honor received by the Physically Challenged Club in as many years. In 2002, the program was selected by the Maine Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports as winner of the Contest for Communities Award in the “special populations” program category.

The club has about 75 members who are active on a weekly basis, and 10 to 12 community volunteers who assist participants with personal care and exercise. Most participants are Mayo patients who are referred by a physician from Rehabilitation Services to the YMCA.