Housekeeping
The first thing patients and visitors to Ashe Memorial Hospital probably notice about the facility is its cleanliness. This is a result of hard work by staff members in the Housekeeping Department. “It gives the patients a nice clean place. That’s the most important thing,” says Doug Price, head of the Housekeeping Department. “First impressions are pretty important.”
Price has spent 39 years in Housekeeping at AMH, starting out at the old hospital on McConnell Street. “I just like working at the hospital,” he said. “I meet a lot of people. We talk to people. They probably see us more than anyone else.” “The cleaning process at AMH, Segraves Care Center, and the other facilities on campus is a full-time, round-the-clock job,” Price says. The staff works 24 hours a day during the week and eight hours a day on the weekends. If you think it’s difficult to keep your house or office clean, imagine the constant work required to keep a three-story hospital, a nursing home, and a wellness center clean enough to pass regular inspections.
Some of the Housekeeping Department staff’s duties include regular cleaning of patient rooms and all the many departments, making beds, and stripping and waxing floors monthly at Segraves and annually at the hospital. The most important aspect of housekeeping, according to Price, is infection control. A clean facility, he says, is the key.
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