Environmental Services Week - Lorene

September 10 – 16 is Environmental Services Week and provides us with the opportunity to celebrate the people who are responsible for keeping hospitals and facilities clean. We heard from Lorene, an Environmental Service Worker (ESW) at an urban acute care facility, who shared some details about her job.

Lorene has worked a variety of jobs within the health region but has worked as an ESW for most of her career. She has always wanted to be part of the health region, but she became a parent at a young age which made formal education a challenge. Rather than be discouraged, she was able to find meaningful work as a porter, within food and nutrition, and finally as an Environmental Service Worker.

One of the best parts of her job is being able to meet and help people. Lorene shared that many people look forward to her coming in so they can chat with her as she works. She is always happy and willing to pitch in and be part of the team.

Her daily tasks include cleaning staff and patient areas, ensuring everything is cleaned and disinfected from top to bottom. This is always an important role, but became even more important during the pandemic. Speaking of working during the pandemic, Lorene told us that she was blown away by how appreciative and thankful people were for her and her co-workers doing their jobs. She shared that it was the first time she had ever been thanked, acknowledged, and gifted for what she does.

This is an important reminder that the work performed by Environmental Service Workers like Lorene is as important to our health and wellbeing today, as it was during the height of the pandemic. To Lorene and your co-workers, we would like to say thank you for all that you do! Your commitment to cleanliness and attention to detail are appreciated each and every day.

For the rest of us, don’t forget to offer a huge thank you to the Environmental Service Workers in your facility! They work tirelessly to ensure that their facilities are clean and safe.