Healthcare Environmental Services Week kicks off September 12 with the theme Together Saving Lives.
The special week is an opportunity to give recognition and celebrate the critical contributions that our environmental services (EVS) caregivers provide each day. These dedicated caregivers ensure that our spaces are healthy and safe and allow for healing to occur. We celebrate and honor all our EVS caregivers!
During August and September, Oregon caregivers in non-patient facing roles have been asked to take shifts at the ministries to support our frontline caregivers. In the story below, Liz Del Valle, director, marketing, shares her experience and her appreciation for our EVS caregivers.
A Humbling Experience of Volunteering with EVS at Providence Newberg
YAMHILL SERVICE AREA – Thursday, August 26, 2021
When Liz finished her shift helping EVS this week, she walked away with great appreciation for their tireless efforts and amazing attitudes.
This week, I had the opportunity to work alongside our EVS team at Providence Newberg Medical Center.
As someone who has been working from the comfort of my home the last 18 months, it was incredibly humbling to step into a ministry and pitch in to help clean and organize a unit.
The EVS team members were so kind in showing me around and how I could help. And they were so grateful for the extra hands. Because I don’t experience the day-to-day hospital operations, I didn’t really understand how the COVID surge would impact a team like EVS.
I figured their job wasn’t as impacted as those who are directly caring for patients. Boy, was I wrong. Their jobs have become incredibly difficult due to the amount of room turnover, and the pace at which our facilities are being utilized as we take care of additional patients. Add in the staffing shortage and pressure to quickly turn rooms around to make room for new patients, and they are feeling very stressed. Not to mention the anxiety of walking in to clean a room after a COVID patient. One caregiver shared with me how concerned she is and how frightening it can be to walk in and be responsible for disinfecting and turning over a room.
I left with a newfound appreciation and gratitude for the EVS caregivers and their role. It’s incredibly taxing to be on your feet all day and responsible for infection control within our ministries. It’s a very hard job and probably feels very thankless and isolating at times.
I hope to have this opportunity more often so I can better relate to the care environment and the work of our onsite caregivers. It grounded me. The chance to experience the spirit within our ministry will help me to remain steadfast to our Mission in my everyday work. And as a marketing professional, it solidified and brought to new light the uniqueness of our culture, the commitment to care and excellence, and why our community should choose us for their health care.
Liz Del Valle