Written By:Ingram’s Magazine
Dianna Ethington says she always loved being around people, and the challenge of cleaning was something that appealed to her. And for years, that provided a measure of reward in roles as a housekeeper at the Lake City industrial park, a custodian for the Fort Osage school district, and working in nursing homes. Not until she arrived at St. Mary’s, in the environmental services unit, did her work take on a deeper meaning. “When I came here, it finally dawned on me that this was all worth it,” Ethington says. “I have really met a lot of nice people since I’ve been here. Some of my patients are like family now. I keep getting the same patients back—they love me!” Her work entails much more than providing a visually pleasing setting, says Raymond Klein, the hospital’s executive housekeeper, and Ethington’s work reflects a health-care imperative. “Dianna is a total rock star in the environmental-service industry,” Klein says. “She receives guest comment cards weekly not only for her pleasant disposition, but the exemplary service she provides. Her rooms are impeccably clean from top to bottom.” And cleanliness is a critical component of high-quality acute care. “Dianna is a prime reason why St. Mary’s Medical Center has maintained an HCAHPS score in the area of guest environment cleanliness of 83 percent for over a year,” Klein says. “Her attention to detail was instrumental in our recent completion of a re-accreditation inspection by The Joint Commission, with no discrepancies found. Dianna makes it a daily personal goal to improve the lives of each patient she interacts with. She is a model employee for the housekeeping team to emulate.” So for Ethington, the work is both rewarding on multiple levels. “The people I have met are like my friends,” she says. “And more than that, they are like family.”
Read about all of the Heros in Healthcare here: http://ingrams.com/article/heroes-in-healthcare-2018/