Housekeeping duo brightens spirits with holiday cheer

When you imagine the care team you’d meet if you were hospitalized, you’d likely think of doctors, nurses, perhaps a radiologist or physical therapist. The goal is that this team of clinicians helps you get better, feel better, and ultimately go home.

But what about housekeeping? They come in, quietly clean the room and leave, right? For anyone making that assumption, they most definitely have not yet met Lutricia and Rojuana.

At Sharp Grossmont Hospital, Environmental Services’ housekeepers Lutricia Peavy and Rojuana “Ro” Jones work on the hospital’s 2 East unit, but are known throughout the hospital as a dynamic duo who have taken the term “support staff” to the next level. Throughout the year, they don festive costumes to brighten patients’ days. More importantly, they are a true part of the unit’s team, forming close relationships with the patients whose rooms they keep tidy and safe.

“They pay me to keep house, but I’m really here for the patients,” Ro says. “So, while I’m in there with them, I figure I might as well clean up,” she quips.

Before joining Sharp Grossmont’s team nearly seven years ago, she and Lutricia were already co-workers at Petco’s corporate facility in San Diego. They joined the Sharp Grossmont team just months apart.

Dressing up began with the December holiday season. And though that tradition has expanded to other times of the year, like Halloween, December allows them the chance to bring extra cheer to patients who can’t be home for the holidays.

“Sometimes we even sing Christmas carols,” says Lutricia. “We’re not the best singers, but for a lot of our patients, they feel the music, they like the costumes and they enjoy being festive while they’re here with us.”

While other hospital staff are multitasking in and out of different patient rooms all day long, Ro and Lutricia are often with patients during longer stretches while they clean the entire room. This can afford them the time to get to know their patients’ names, share stories and even tell jokes. And, when it’s necessary, they’ll spring into action to help the care team with tasks such as getting the patient a glass of water, a blanket or other necessities.

“The patients will sometimes say, ‘Oh, I don’t want to take you away from your job,’” Lutricia says. “But I tell them, ‘Honey, this is part of my job.’”

Allison Ferguson is the nurse manager on 2 East, and a big fan of her housekeeping twosome.

“Ro and Trish don’t simply come and clean our unit. They are part of our team and deeply invested in our patients’ recovery,” says Allison. “They really are an integral part of what we do and are beneficial to a healthy work environment.”

The pair’s efforts are most definitely not lost on the patients. Recently, Andrew Guion and Justin Frazier were two patients sharing a room on 2 East. For Andrew, it was his first time ever in a hospital. He says the pair of housekeepers added quite a spark to his stay.

“This is pretty uplifting when you’re in the hospital,” says Andrew. “From what I’ve seen from the entire team, they blend right in and it’s very inspirational. A kind word, a small gesture — it all adds up when you’re a patient here.”

Roommate Justin concurs. “With these guys, you want to be sick,” he laughs. “It’s bad enough when you’re away from your bed, your family and your kids, but when these two are here, it’s the best 15 minutes of my day.”

Justin mentioned that his birthday had been the week he was hospitalized, which Ro and Lutricia hadn’t known until they stopped in. The pair briefly left the room, then made a grand entrance and began singing “Happy Birthday” to him. At the end of each “Happy Birthday to you” line, Justin joined in with a hearty “cha-cha-cha,” and everyone chuckled, including Andrew.

For a hospital room during the holidays, it doesn’t get much better than that.