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 | Community Connections | Fall 2020

Good Shepherd Health Care System | 

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HOUSEKEEPERS

Back Row (L to R): Anthony, Sandra, Jonathan 

Middle Row: Mahaila, Andrew, Sergio, Theresa 

Front Row: Tabatha, Zach, Kristina

Not Pictured: Ruth, Alison, Karina, Laylah, Brian, Trenton, Anayeli,  

Marisol, Ryan, Chris, Samantha, Billy, Harry, Alma, Magda, Amelie,  

Gloria, Deborah, Steven, Rosario

“I’m way more comfortable caring for patients then I was at  

the beginning of the pandemic. There were just so many 

unknowns at the time and state guidelines, as well as CDC 

guidelines, were rapidly changing, minute-to-minute.” 

–GSHCS Nurse.

Unsung Heroes

Environmental Services staff at 
Good Shepherd are dedicated to 
providing a clean and safe work 
environment. Manager Sergio 
Rodriguez describes his staff of 
30 housekeepers as achievers of 
the impossible. “The hospital and 
its services that our housekeepers 
are responsible for cleaning is 
over 300,000 square feet,” stated 
Rodriguez. “That is 10,000 square 
feet per employee and to put that 
into perspective, the average home 
is 2,500 square feet. That means 
that each EVS employee has 10 
homes per day to clean  
and disinfect.” 

It really does take an army to keep 
a hospital clean which is why every 
employee at GSHCS considers 

themselves a housekeeper. “Everyone 
is a housekeeper at GSHCS and 
that’s an excellent mentality for all 
of us,” stated Rodriguez. “When our 
housekeepers leave a patient room 
they have cleaned, top to bottom, they 
ask themselves if it was clean enough 
for their loved ones or themselves if 
they were the patient. The answer is 
always yes, but our mantra is that we 
can never clean enough.”

Before the pandemic Environmental 
Services staff already cleaned as  
if everything was infectious. “We 
were already prepared for the  
worst infectious diseases. And  
even through some shortages 
of supplies such as hand soap, 
disinfectant wipes and sanitizers, 
our staff maintained and exceeded 
the infection control standards set 
forth by the Centers for Disease 
Control & Prevention (CDC) and the 
Oregon Health Authority (OHA),” 
stated Rodriguez. 

“One thing our hospital has 
seen during the pandemic is an 
outpouring of donations,” he said. 
“Our department is proud to be 
a recipient of a $3,500 iMop floor 
scrubber, donated by the 36G 
Lions Club members. It’s an easy-
to-use, automated, hand-held floor 
scrubber that helps immensely with 
quicker turnaround times when 
sanitizing floors and doesn’t leave 
the floors wet like traditional mops.”

Rodriguez is proud of his team 
and the important work they do 
day in and day out. “We are on 
the frontlines with the rest of 
our healthcare workers. We care 
deeply for our patients’ health and 
safety from the time they enter our 
facilities to the time they leave us. 
We are here to serve.”

“I’m not as afraid as I once  

was. We are all doing everything 

in our power to be safe. To keep 

each other safe, our patients 

safe and our community safe. 

We’ve been fighting against 

infectious diseases since the 

beginning of healthcare.” 

–GSHCS Nurse

“Now that we are always  

wearing masks, I miss the 

engagement with our patients. 

We are working harder to 

connect with them despite our 

faces being half or fully covered.”

–GSHCS Nurse

Jessica, RN, Critical Care Unit (CCU)

April, RN, Medical/Surgical Unit

Emergency Room and Critical Care 
Unit Staff), but rather to honor each 
other as a collective group, united 
together to accomplish the health 
care system’s mission – to improve 
the health or our community. No one 
person is critical and essential on their 
own. Each healthcare worker is equally 
necessary to contribute and together, 
make a difference in patients’ lives. 

Philosopher Aristotle’s quote, “The 
whole is greater than the sum of its 
parts,” exemplifies staff’s sentiments. 
The great potential of teamwork is 
rooted in many things, but it allows  
the individuals to rise above 
themselves and accomplish incredible 
things together. 

Without a doubt, Good Shepherd 
nurses are deserving of as much 
recognition as they are willing to be 
part of. Many don’t want the limelight, 
but the incredible care they have 
provided, their sacrifices so willingly 
given, and the compassion they have 
shown each and every day is worthy  
of the word hero. 

Sheila, RN, Treatment Center

To quote the World Health 
Organization, “Nurses and midwives 
play a vital role in providing health 
services. These are the people 
who devote their lives to caring 
for mothers and children; giving 
lifesaving immunizations and health 
advice; looking after older people and 
generally meeting everyday essential 
health needs. They are often the 
first and only point of care in their 
communities. The world needs 9 
million more nurses and midwives if it 
is to achieve universal health coverage 
by 2030. That’s why the World Health 
Assembly has designated 2020 the 
“International Year of the Nurse and  
the Midwife.” 

The Year of the Nurse 

(continued)