UAMS asks staff for help in house cleaning duties

The demand on housekeeping staff from increased clinical duties has prompted UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson to ask all UAMS staff to pitch in on janitorial duties.

His memo:

Thank you to all of you who have volunteered so far to help your co-workers as part of the “All Hands on Deck” program UAMS has implemented to address staffing shortages in various support services during the pandemic. We too have taken shifts helping deliver trays to patients and working at the employee screening stations. Hopefully, you found your shifts to be as rewarding as we did.

 

Unfortunately, UAMS is still experiencing staff shortages, but there is an easy way you can help. We are asking that you pick up and empty trash in your work areas. This is because one of the employee teams most heavily impacted by the pandemic is clinical housekeeping in our Environmental Services group. In order for our current EVS staff to meet the needs in our clinical areas, starting this Wednesday, if your office is located in one of the following buildings, housekeeping services will be limited for at least the next two months.

 

Affected areas include offices in the following buildings:

 

• Central (excludes Student and Employee Health Services, Blood Bank, Vascular Lab and Endoscopy, A Wing nursing units)

• Shorey Building
• Monroe Building (excludes the vaccine clinic)
• Distribution Center
• Rahn Building
• Education II
• Westmark Building
• Dodd Wilson Education Building (offices only)
• Admin. West
• PDC
• Bio Med I and II (offices only)
• Bioventures (offices only)
• Mediplex

 

Staff in these affected buildings will be responsible for the following duties:

 

• Trash removal (taken to designated location in each area for housekeeping to collect)
• Dust and vacuum office as needed
• Wipe down conference room surfaces as needed
• Clean all private bathrooms located in individual offices
• Please note:  There are EVS signs in affected areas to indicate designated trash locations. Extra trash bags will be available in all central trash drop-off locations.  To request the use of a vacuum or cleaning products, or if you do not know your designated drop off area, call the campus operations call center at 526-0000. Please have one representative from your area to contact campus operations.

 

Please ensure your department has a plan to take care of these temporary duties within your areas. If you have any questions, or would like guidance, feel free to contact 526-0000.

 

Campus Housekeeping will continue the following duties:

 

• Remove trash from central locations
• Clean all public restrooms
• Clean all classrooms

 

Thank you to everyone in the areas listed above for stepping up to help. This will allow us to ensure that we have the housekeeping support needed to continue providing the safest care possible for our patients.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA

UAMS Chancellor

CEO of UAMS Health