Facilities Support Services are never more than a few steps away

Do you know what keeps Nova Scotia Health facilities safe, clean, and able to consistently offer quality services?  In almost every case it can be traced directly back to the 2,400 team members who work in Facilities Support Services (FSS) at Nova Scotia Health.

This large, interconnected team of people work in the areas of environmental services, laundry services, porter services and security.

Though often behind-the-scenes, it’s almost impossible for employees, clinicians, patients, or their families not to cross paths with a member of this team, or a service they provide.

Last year, more than thirteen million pounds of laundry was processed at Nova Scotia Health.

Kim Landry, who works in linen services starts her day filling the scrub machines at the Halifax Infirmary, and then collects and delivers linens throughout the facility.

She said her favourite part of her role is “traveling throughout the hospital and meeting new staff and co-workers.”

Jane Perry feels the same way. She’s a general worker in environmental services, and a team leader at Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre in Amherst.

“I have worked for Nova Scotia Health for almost 25 years and my favorite part of my job is the social interactions, and a good clean room.”

A typical day for Perry, who oversees the departments of Obstetrics, Labour and Delivery, Pediatrics, and Pharmacy, includes coordinating staff for room cleanings after a patient is discharged.

Navdeep Singh works in security at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish. Singh keeps the premises safe and answers to all the emergency codes but said he really enjoys “helping patients and families navigate the hospital.”

Singh helps people find their way to their appointments, and hands off to people like Lisa Oickle, a team lead for porter service at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater. Oickle transfers patients around the hospital when they are unable to do so on their own.

When she isn’t moving patients, she’s picking up and delivering lab specimens, requisitions, and medications.

Oickle said, “You need a good pair of shoes when you are a porter because you put a lot of miles on them in one day.”

And just like her other colleagues at FSS, Oickle points to the connection she makes with patients as well as other staff as a real highlight of her day.

Facilities Support Services is a team under Facilities Management and Support (FMS) which falls within Corporate Services at Nova Scotia Health. Corporate Services is committed to improving outcomes, experiences, and efficiencies.

Corporate Services also includes the areas of Finance, Information Management and Information Technology (IMIT), Internal Audit, Nutrition and Food Services, One Person One Record (OPOR), and Supply Chain.