Describe your job responsibilities and what your day is like.
Every day is different here and that keeps things interesting and allows me to learn a lot of skills. One day I might be working on an ice machine or an air handler, the next day heat exchangers. When I come in each morning, I check the work orders for the day, and we generally tend to things like the ice machines and other mechanical issues in the kitchen area. I’m never bored; there’s always something to do and always something different and interesting. I’m technically an HVAC tech but here we all work together as a team and I help out with all types of work; electrical, plumbing, mechanical work and other bigger issues that require a lot of manpower. The great thing about Medxcel is that we have every trade available right here and we all pitch in and help each other out. None of us stick to just one thing, we work together so that we can get work completed quickly for our customer and their patients.
Describe the path you took to arrive in your current role.
I first worked at this hospital when I was a teenager, I was a floor tech working here after school. Over the years I held other jobs in apartment maintenance and at a school district, then I came back here and I’ve been with Medxcel for almost six years now. I started out with Medxcel in general maintenance, then I was offered a position on the night shift then I moved to HVAC about three and a half years ago. I went to El Paso, Texas for an HVAC training course, allowing me to really dive more into the HVAC and mechanical work which I love.
What types of training and development opportunities have you taken advantage of at Medxcel?
I have my journeyman’s license and it needs to be renewed every two years. Medxcel helps us with taking our courses to renew our licenses. They also provide us with lots of training courses and knowledge we need about the equipment we repair and maintain.
What is the best part of your job?
The best part of my job is going to a customer who made a maintenance request and letting them know that we’ve completed a work order and seeing that they’re grateful and happy. That’s such a great feeling. Often, they are surprised by how quickly we were able to resolve their issue, many times the same day they put in the request. That makes us feel proud of the service we provide and how much it is appreciated by our customers.
What would you say to someone who asks you if you recommend working for Medxcel?
I definitely recommend Medxcel as a great place to work. I love that there is always someone available to help you out here, it’s a real team atmosphere. Once you’re hired here Medxcel wants to help develop you and there are so many opportunities for training and growth. Medxcel helps us achieve our goals and grow our knowledge and skills and progress in our career if that’s what we want.
How does your job impact patient care?
Without Medxcel, the hospital would not be up and running. We keep patients comfortable and safe, and we keep all of the mechanical systems up and running. If an air handler goes down, it can affect an entire floor and we need to act quickly to repair it or have a plan in place to keep patients and staff comfortable while it’s down. We’re able to respond to issues very quickly because we’re here on site. Our downtime on air handlers shouldn’t be over one hour; after that we’ll experience issues with airflow and temperature, and we take that very seriously.
What has been most inspirational to you in your career?
When I started at Medxcel, each of us was asked to share a story that inspired us. In my case, I used to work at this hospital years ago as a floor tech. I remember watching the maintenance people pushing around carts and making repairs and I remember thinking “That looks so cool. I like working with my hands, I wonder what it would be like to work in maintenance.” I always remembered that moment and now I’m here working in that role in this hospital and wow, there really is so much going on behind the scenes in maintenance! It’s even cooler than I thought, and I feel so good about the fact that I aspired to become one of those guys and now, here I am!