Valentino, who works with the Linen and Laundry Services team at Toronto Western Hospital, heads out with one of the many carts of clean and sterilized linens, each of which is delivered for use in a specific area in the hospital. (Photo: UHN)
It takes a lot of work and people power to make sure patient care and operations run smoothly and efficiently day in and day out in a hospital. At Toronto Western Hospital (TWH), it is the Environmental Services team – which includes Transportation, Laundry and Linen, and Housekeeping – that fill that role.
This is International Housekeeping Week, and UHN News spent an afternoon with a few staff from TWH Environmental Services to get a glimpse of the jobs they do to keep the hospital clean, safe and running efficiently. Between them, the featured staff have 96 years of experience at UHN and take great pride in the contribution they make to patient care and safety.
The staff on TWH's Environmental Services team cover a wide-range of responsibilities, some that we might not even be aware of: transporting patients between their rooms and appointments in different departments, supplying the operating rooms and research labs with the gases necessary for procedures, collecting and delivering medical specimens, keeping patient rooms clean, ensuring sterilized linens are available throughout the hospital, regularly cleaning, stripping and waxing the many floors and areas in the building, and much more.
"I came to Canada 38 years ago," says Maria L. who works in Transportation in the Medical Imaging Department. "After a few years working in a factory, I came here and found my best place – I've been at UHN for the last 27 years. I love everything about what I do."
To go Behind the Scenes with TWH Environmental Services view the photo album here.
