[Inaudible] Hi!
I'm Dana Jay, and this is Henry Ford Health System News.
Your chance to see what's happening around Henry Ford and how we're making a
difference for our communities, our patients, and each other.
And this time we're taking you behind the scenes of a brand new facility that's
key to making sure our patients and staff have critical supplies during the
pandemic.
This 115,000 square foot medical laundry facility co-owned
by Henry Ford, Michigan Medicine and St.
Joseph Mercy Health System opened in June.
It's believed to be one of the largest in the country,
and more than twice the size of the previous plant.
The laundry is on track to clean and sanitize 34 million pounds
of scrubs and linens by the end of the year.
The facility itself is a major investment in the surrounding Detroit
neighborhood and the people who live nearby. For Ricky Nelson,
making sure clean linens get to the right folding machines represents a clean
slate.
I'm able to do for myself,
help myself and stay away from that life that I once lived.
Nelson,
doesn't mind telling you his job at the laundry helped him get back on track
after 17 years in prison.
Without a doubt, I feel it's a second chance and it was a good second chance,
too.
In the 18 months since he started, Nelson has worked his way up to floor leader.
The opportunities available to him and his peers were recently recognized by
mayor Mike Duggan.
This is what we need. Good paying jobs in the city. Uh,
that Detroiters can access.
The $48 million facility took over a previously vacant warehouse in the
Northwest Goldberg neighborhood just blocks from Henry Ford Hospital.
It's an easy commute for the approximately 150 team members on staff.
About 85% of them live within city limits.
More than half have been hired since the facility opened earlier this year.
Everyone here makes at least $15 an hour plus
healthcare and retirement benefits.
It's convenient for the neighborhood. Whoever wants a job,
they come in for an application.
Joyce Moultris has worked for the laundry for decades.
It wasn't intending to be here for 37 years, but as time went on,
job got better and better and better. So I'm still here.
The technology at the bigger,
better facility include upgrades like a monorail system that moves clean
and dirty laundry overhead, meaning less lifting and hauling for team members,
workstations with personal cooling systems and automation that helps the
crew move more than 5,000 pounds of laundry an hour.
Oh my God. It was so big compared to the building that I came from.
And I'm like, okay, I can do this for couple of years.
Laundry facility managers call their team members the unsung heroes of COVID
because of the role they play in infection control. Now,
in addition to clean scrubs,
they're making sure frontline workers have the essential PPE they need.
Since the height of the pandemic,
Henry Ford and its partners at the laundry have begun using washable isolation
gowns, extending the supply of essential PPE for frontline workers.
The garments,
which are made of a raincoat-like material are washed bagged and sent
back out in about a day.
We do have circulated inventory,
which means that product is available even when it's cycling back
around. So as that product comes back, you know,
we're already sending new product to the hospitals.
Each gown can be washed between 70 and a hundred times.
Now some new surgical technology Henry Ford Health System is the first in
Michigan to offer surgery with a brand new DaVinci robot.
Dr. Craig Rogers,
chair of the Vattikuti Urology Institute completed the first robotic
prostatectomy using the DaVinci SP robotic system in late October.
The new system is now available in Detroit and Macomb. In many cases,
it requires only a single small incision for its instruments,
helping surgeons to perform delicate surgery in small spaces.
Other DaVinci robots require three to four small incisions.
Fewer incisions means many patients will experience less pain and be able to be
discharged the same day as surgery for conditions such as prostate cancer,
kidney cancer, uretal strictures, and certain types of head and neck cancers.
Now you can show your Henry Ford pride as you mask up in the community because
masks like this one are making their way to all our team members and about a
quarter million community members.
Some feature,a mural painted along the Dequindre Cut by a Detroit artist.
Others feature a mural sponsored by Henry Ford during the city of Jackson's
Bright Walls Festival. Still others feature the Henry Ford logo.
The masks are being handed out to team members at our hospitals and clinics and
mailed to staff who are working from home.
It's part of a multi-pronged advocacy campaign,
encouraging people across Michigan to wear and respect the mask.
In addition to team members, masks will be given to patients, community groups,
business partners, and others. And now our featured photo.
So have you been here? Accidentally twinning with your work bestie?
Here's Julia Solecki and Jenna McTevia from the therapy team at Henry Ford
Hospital matching head to toe from their scrub caps down to those bright red
sneakers. Their faces may be red too, but I can't be sure.
We want to see your photos of those little moments that make coming to work at
Henry Ford special.
So send us your photos and your story ideas to newstips@hfhs.org.
Thanks for watching. And I'll see you around.
[Inaudible].