They don’t think about housekeeping, maintenance, dietary, nursing assistants, patient care techs, and administration.” “When you think about health care work, the first people you think about are the doctors and the nurses. “Housekeeping has never been respected,” she told me recently. “It’s me and the other housekeepers who sit and talk with to brighten up their day, because they can’t have family members visiting.”ĭespite her contributions, she doesn’t feel recognized. She cares deeply about the patients she works with, and knows that the value of her job goes well beyond cleaning. “If we don’t clean the rooms correctly, the pandemic will get worse,” said Hopps. Too often, we overlook the heroism and dignity of millions of low-paid, undervalued, and essential health workers like Sabrina Hopps, a 46-year-old housekeeping aide in an acute nursing facility in Washington, D.C.
