York’s warmth and daily humor
was a welcomed comfort to Melissa
Woodcock and her family during
that week on the LCRH hospice
floor.
“My grandmother spent a week in
hospice care,” Melissa Woodcock
stated. “My mother and I would go
up everyday at 8 a.m. and stay until
midnight.
The long hours, and just the two
of us, was challenging. Jay (York)
came in, like an old friend, and lifted
our spirits with smiles, kind words.
His smile and sweet spirit was a
blessing in a difficult time.”
And while Jay York’s
compassion was appreciated
during a family member’s try
time, it is his work as a LCRH
environmental services team
member that helps keeps everyone
safe, as well.
The Lake Cumberland
Regional Hospital
environmental services team is
responsible for all of the cleaning
functions within the hospital,
and do all the sanitizing of every
surface of the large medical edifice.
“Our environmental services team
works 24/7,” stated Brandon Duggar,
Director of Human Resources,
Ethics, & Environmental Services.
“We have approximately 50-55
team members in the department.
Most of those are full-time team
members, some work in a PRN role.”
The LCRH
environmental services team has
always been the backbone of the
local medical operation. With the
current COVID-19 pandemic, the
LCRH environmental services team’s
role is even more critical.
“Since this virus has come about
in the last six weeks, we as a team
have really paid more attention
to high-touch areas,” Duggar
explained. “We are talking about
door knobs, door handles, light
switches, elevator buttons, nursing
stations, stairway rails, hallway
rails and those type of things. We
now have team members assigned
that start on the top floor and work
their way down to the bottom floor,
sanitizing all high-touch areas and
then start back over doing it again.”
“There is more of a heightened
M ay 2020
“
Right now they
don’t have extra
family around, and we
have to fill that void.
If I can make a
patient smile, I have
done my job.”
Jay York
LCRH Environmental Team
sense of awareness in everything
that we do,” Duggar stated. “We
started using a specialized cleaning
solution at the end of last year,
before the virus. It kills basically
everything and it does kill the
coronovirus. We deep clean every
isolation room that we have here in
this facility with that product. When
the patient leaves, we spray it with
an electrostatic pressure gun. It has
a kill time of about seven minutes
and nobody goes into that room
until that time has passed.”
But even before the coronavirus,
the Lake Cumberland Hospital’s
environmental services team work
tirelessly 24/7 to keep the facility
clean and safe.
The LCRH
environmental services team is split
into three daily shifts. The day shift
is from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., with about
20 people staffed everyday.
Their primary responsibilities
are cleaning and sanitizing patient
rooms and other assigned areas in
the hospital.
Second shift runs from 2 p.m. to
10 p.m., and they cover the entire
hospital. Most nights the second
shift consists of 7 to 12 people,
depending on the day and the
current volume of patients. Those
team members will cover mainly
patient check-outs. Second shift
takes care of some deep cleaning
- especially when the operating
rooms are done being used for the
day.
The third shift goes from 8 p.m.
until 6 in the morning. There are
usually about five people on this
shift, and they cover all areas of the
facility. They take care of the linens
that come in overnight and get them
ready for the next day.
“We have someone running
trash and linens all day,” Duggar
explained. “We also have people
staffed at the Medical Arts building
through the weekday and the
weekend a little bit less. They are
primary later in the day when
the Walk-In Clinic starts shutting
down - doing a deep clean every
night.”
“We have a specialized process
to sanitize and deep clean
the operating rooms every
day,” Duggar added. “Also, our
environmental services team staffs
the Emergency Room everyday
24/7.”
Duggar also explained how the
EVS team works alongside the rest
of the hospital’s medical staff.
“First shift team members work
with the nurses and the units on the
floor,” Duggar stated. “We have team
members who are assigned to each
floor and they are basically there
for eight hours. Nursing units have
done an excellent job of making
those members feel a part of their
nursing team. For example, in the
ICU where we have housed some
patients with coronavirus, the EVS
team member attends ICU daily
meetings and is a part of that team
and their protocols every day.”
“Our environmental shift team
members have a relationship
like that,” Duggar stated. “In
our ER, we have someone from
our environmental team there
24 hours a day and they have a
close relationship. Third shift may
not be as close with the nursing
unit, but they may be on third floor,
called to second floor, and then
back to third floor.”
On top of the LCRH environmental
team’s daily routines of cleaning
and sanitizing, they conduct routine
inspections, training and retraining.
“No one enters any room without
the right protective equipment,”
stated Environmental Services
Supervisor Connie Goff. “We would
rather have more on than less.
I n T ouch with S outhern K entucky • 11