The Columbus Regional Health Environmental Services team does an excellent job of keeping the hospital clean, and in response to COVID-19, they really stepped up to ensure a safe, clean environment for patients and staff. “We always try our best to keep all areas of the hospital clean and disinfected,” said Cassie Large, Environmental Services education coordinator.

Cassie has worked at CRH for about 14 years, and in her current role she educates and trains staff to ensure that they are up-to-date on procedures and that the hospital is continuously disinfected and clean for patients and staff. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to always cleaning and disinfecting patient rooms, offices, surgery suites, and public areas, Cassie said that the team had to change some of their daily procedures as they learned more about COVID-19. “The Environmental Services staff here at CRH has done a fantastic job with all the challenges and changes we have had during this time. They are a great team to work with,” said Cassie. She also expressed her gratefulness for the added support that came from other CRH team members who were temporarily reassigned to assist Environmental Services for additional cleaning of high-touch areas. “Everyone that came and helped us did a great job, and we cannot thank them enough for their help during this time,” said Cassie.

Environmental Services Manager Dean Roth said that Cassie has been key in keeping up with the changes in guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and then setting up staff huddles to go through all the changes that needed to occur. “She had to adapt and convey the education to the staff to stay on top of what current events were. She’s really done a good job,” he said. Cassie has also helped the team with learning how to put on and remove personal protective equipment. Prior to her role as education coordinator, Dean said that Cassie helped clean surgery areas, and because of that, is “very aware of sterile, clean environments.”

Cassie, Dean, and Facilities Management Director Dave Lenart always look for opportunities on how they can enhance the daily work the team does. “We always provide a safe, clean environment, and we’ve never wavered from that,” said Dean.