Milford Regional Medical Center is recruiting volunteers for its “No One Dies Alone” patient comfort program. The volunteers - dubbed compassionate companions by the hospital - provide company to dying patients who have neither family nor friends available to stay with them 24 hours a day. Volunteers comfort patients through conversation, reading, or just sitting with them. “It’s not about doing. It’s about being,” director of volunteer services Elaine Willey said. “The essence of the program is a compassionate, caring presence at the end of life. Every hour that a compassionate companion is at a patient’s bedside is one less hour that a patient is alone.” Volunteers, who undergo screening and training, generally work four-hour shifts, based on their availability. For more information, contact Willey at 508-422-2263, or ewiley@milreg.org. - Jose Martinez