CHICAGO, Ill. — Sharon Jones, a member of the Environmental Services (ES) team at Northwest Indiana’s Methodist Hospitals, Gary Campus, has been named the 2015 recipient of the Hygiene Specialist® Excellence award sponsored by UMF Corporation, a Chicago-based developer of high-performance infection-prevention products.
Jones, a resident of Gary, IN, was nominated for the award by her supervisor, Poet Billups, Manager of Environmental Services at Methodist Hospitals, a 600+-bed hospital system with campuses in Gary and Merrillville, IN.
The Hygiene Specialist Excellence award is in its seventh year. It was established by UMF Corporation to acknowledge the invaluable contribution of the unsung hero’s staffing ES departments across the country – the first line of defense – providing safe environments in hospitals and long-term care facilities, according to George Clarke, CEO of UMF Corporation.
Commenting on his nomination of Jones, Billups said, “Sharon’s primary job is to provide a clean, safe environment for patients, visitors and staff by minimizing the dangers posed by the spread of any infectious diseases and healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). In addition, Sharon also embodies what we call the Spirit of Methodist in her work and her actions. She does a tremendous job in the way she partners with nursing staff and in the compassion she shows to patients and their families.”
As a member of the ES team, Jones participated in a Hygiene Specialist In-Service Training program that included learning best practices for effective infection prevention, in-service education and effective hygiene management in patient rooms and all other areas of Methodist Hospitals.
The Hygiene Specialist Award includes a one-week vacation for two to South Beach, Florida. Note: 2016 award nominations are being accepted at http://www.perfectclean.com/award.html
