Iredell Well being System Environmental Service employees maintain sufferers secure | Native Information

Housekeeper Libby Cash prepares to enter the room of a patient diagnosed with COVID-19.

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While community members have hailed local health workers as heroes since the pandemic began, not all of the front lines are nurses or doctors.

A cornerstone of the Iredell Health System, the Environmental Services team cleans and disinfects an average of 45 discharge and transferred patient rooms every day, covering every bed, wall, table, floor, phone, bathroom, toilet, corner and every touch-sensitive surface is covered by the 289,000 cleanable square meters of the healthcare system.

The extensive Environmental Services team consists of 35 full-time employees who take care of housekeeping, waste management and laundry distribution.

Like other frontline health workers, members of the Iredell Environmental Services team witness the plight of hospital patients. While doing their part in their lives, they are essential to the comfort, health, and happiness of Iredell patients and their families.

A good example: the environmental services housekeeper Libby Cash. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she volunteered at the hospital to care for COVID patients and to keep those who were isolated without visitors, company.

“It makes me more aware of the people who are hurt and suffering,” said Cash. “It makes me more aware of addressing people who need compassion. You need a kind word. I try to encourage and make them laugh and smile because we are the only people who see them all the time when they are here. And I’m just trying to make their day a little brighter because they need it. “