DOTHAN, Ala. — Since the start of the pandemic healthcare workers have been deemed heroes but not all healthcare workers have MD or RN at the end of their name.
“My name is Jessica, I am a part of the EVS team and I am a health care hero,” said Jessica Clark, EVS Assistant at Southeast Health.
The environmental services team (EVS) is otherwise known as hospital housekeeping but they do much more than that especially since the start of the pandemic. They are the backbone of Southeast Health Medical Center, making sure rooms and high touch surfaces are sanitized in order to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 within the hospital.
“Anything from making sure we are taking out the trash the correct way and making sure the linen is being handled differently and properly, making sure we are not spreading it throughout the hospital. You know, everybody’s, we’ve got to make sure we are all doing our part in making sure everything is sanitized and kept clean,” said Clark
Clark like many other front-line workers has a family at home she worries about bringing the virus back to but she says she feels safer in the hospital than she would in a lot of other places. The EVS team sanitizes rooms in between patients, making sure to get every corner and high touch surface including sanitizing the walls, and beds.
Like other healthcare heroes, Clark says the hardest part of this entire experience is seeing what the patients go through.
“Your heart hurts a little bit to hear these patients that are in pain, and I almost feel like I can’t do anything to help them other than being there and doing what I can,” said Clark.
Clark says there may be a lot unknown about the virus but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel as long as we are taking care of each other.
