Public Employee Press

Profile in Public Service
Focus on patient care

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

"Everything about this job focuses on the patients and their care," said Linen Distributor Darryl Woods, a Sodexo employee at Bellevue Hospital and a Local 154 member.

Twenty months ago when Hurricane Sandy barreled down on New York City and rising tides flooded waterfront neighborhoods, Woods faced the momentous challenge head on. "Now I believe I am prepared for almost anything," he said.

Mandated to stay at Bellevue during Sandy, Woods said, "I was not upset. The patients, and their health and safety come first. As a chapter chair representing DC 37, it would reflect poorly on the union if I left and expected others to stay. I could not ask my co-workers to do more than I would myself."

So Woods, a disabled U.S. Navy veteran, was one of thousands of public service employees who answered the call of duty as Sandy struck.

When Bellevue lost power and switched to generators to keep critical care patients alive, Woods and his Sodexo co-workers helped carry fuel up 13 flights to the generators. They also moved intensive care patients through dark passageways as the National Guard came to evacuate them.

"Darryl Woods spent a week at Bellevue, and that illustrates the level of commitment he and other union workers have to the patients, to their jobs and to this city," said Local 154 President Juan Fernandez.

Crippled by the superstorm, Bellevue had no power, no heat, lights or working bathrooms. "Surviving Sandy made us pretty close-knit," Woods said. "We kept each other going and kept morale high. Management looked out for us. I am thankful for my co-workers and I appreciate Bellevue a lot more."

After three months, the Sodexo laundry crew that delivers clean linens and scrubs and collects some three tons of soiled laundry a week at Bellevue, returned from redeployment at Goldwater Hospital on Roosevelt Island. It was almost a year before Bellevue returned as a full-service public hospital.

"DC 37, even though it was hit hard, was always there for us. Council Rep Marianella Santana met with us regularly. Sodexo let us know they appreciated our work and that made all the difference," Woods said. "I believe my experience during Sandy prepared me for future disasters, both mentally and physically. I know what to do and if another disaster occurs, we're more prepared to keep Bellevue running."