Describe the path you took to arrive in your current role.

Eighteen years ago I came to this hospital and interviewed for a position as a laundry attendant. When they were giving me a tour of the laundry facility, they told me there was a sub-department with the transport systems. When the laundry facility made up the linen carts, they went to the sub-department to be dispersed through the facility. I decided that was where I was interested in working so I started there and about three years later they made me the shift supervisor. I was always trying to improve systems and processes to make things go more smoothly. Sometimes we’d have an issue with the system and the mechanics were tied up, so I’d just jump in and try to fix things myself to keep our work moving. Essentially, I got caught by my leaders doing something I wasn’t supposed to do. So the boss came by and saw me doing mechanical work and that’s how I kept moving up here. When Medxcel came in I embraced my love of mechanic work and joined the team. I have moved through several positions and am now a Maintenance Mechanic I.

What is the best part of your job?

I love always trying to find ways to make things better, there is always a way to improve a job or a process, no matter how well it’s going currently. I’m a bit of a rebel in that if we’re supposed to do something a specific way, I challenge myself to find a way to make it even better or easier. The track systems we maintain or so complicated and so greasy, I feel it’s a good challenge to improve the ways we manage them.

Do you have any interesting stories related to your job?

Well, it’s always an interesting day when someone tries to use our pneumatic tube system to transport urine samples and they spill.  When that happens, we have to do a complete shutdown of the system and disinfect it.  You wouldn’t think that something like that would have such a big impact on your day, but I’m grateful that we have processes in place to make it go a bit smoother.

What would you tell someone if they asked you if they should consider working for Medxcel?

I tell people that Medxcel is a good company to work for. The benefits are great and there are so many opportunities for advancement. I feel like as long as you want to work hard and progress, there are an infinite number of opportunities with Medxcel.

Which of Medxcel’s Core Values speaks the most to you?

I’ve been working here almost 20 years and I am dedicated to the good of this facility and the patients we take care of. To me, dedication means showing up every day, despite obstacles that life throws at you, and the days at work that make you want to throw in your tools. To do your best you’ve got to be dedicated and committed, if not you may find it easy to give up. And Medxcel is dedicated to me. The fact that they treat me right means I want to stick with this job long term and do the best work I can each day.

How does your job impact patient care?

Well part of our job is maintaining the equipment that delivers the linens and you know we don’t want any naked patients running around here! So clean linens obviously positively affect our patients and the tube system that we maintain is critical for transporting medications and other critical items around the facility to our patients. If that breaks down, it’s critical that we get it up and running as quickly as possible so that our staff don’t have to walk everything from floor to floor. Our facility is large and that would really take a lot of additional time.