OMC Recognizes Quick-Thinking Laundry Team After Equipment Catches Fire

Pictured (clockwise from top left): Blanca DeLeon, Minda Dugan, Evelia Jacoba Sanchez, Sonya Woolsey, Cameron VanWinkle, Kathy Richison, and Ketta Ketchum (not pictured: Sena Bradow)

Olympic Medical Center’s Chief Human Resource Officer & General Counsel Jennifer Burkhardt, along with Director of Support Services Julie Black and the OMC Board of Commissioners, recently recognized eight members of the OMC laundry team for quickly and professionally responding to a fire in the laundry facility.

After the motor on a vintage 1961 Mangle machine (a machine that dries, folds and stacks linens) went out and sparked a fire this past June, the on-site laundry team sprang into action. Burkhardt said the laundry team “quickly became Emergency Response Personnel,” and because of their quick thinking, minimized the damage to simply a “dead motor” on the equipment. Though laundry had to be sent off-site for cleaning while the machine was fixed, the recognized team continued their heroic efforts by coming in each day looking for new ways to help, ensuring clinical staff and patients had everything they needed to continue the daily work without interruption.

Burkhardt and Black presented the awards to the following laundry team members:

The laundry team is presented with Employee Recognition awards at an OMC Board of Commissioners meeting on Aug. 4, 2021. Pictured from left: Kathy Richison, Sena Bradow, Minda Dugan, Evelia Jacoba Sanchez, Blanca DeLeon, Director of Support Services Julie Black, Sonya Woolsey, and Chief Human Resource Officer & General Counsel Jennifer Burkhardt

• Blanca DeLeon, Environmental Services Laundry Washer
• Sena Bradow, Environmental Services Laundry Helper
• Minda Dugan, Environmental Services Laundry Helper
• Evelia Jacobo-Sanchez, Environmental Services Laundry Helper
• Ketta Ketchum, Environmental Services Laundry Helper
• Katherine Richison, Environmental Services Laundry Helper
• Cameron VanWinkle, Environmental Services Laundry Helper
• Sonya Woolsey, Environmental Services Laundry Helper

OMC proudly provides laundry service in-house—one of the few hospitals that do—allowing the organization to have better oversight and control over the laundering process. This work often takes place behind the scenes, yet the laundry team is crucial to maintaining an even flow of clean linen throughout the hospital and outpatient clinics.

“The appreciation that I have for this team is beyond any words and so much more than a thank you will express,” said Burkhardt. “I am more than honored to work with this team and to recognize their hard work and extreme dedication to OMC.”