ThankYouToLocalWorkers

SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2020 | Thank You to Local Workers Advertising Section G4 With that spirit of shared pur- pose in mind, we extend our sincere thanks to all members of the Pacific Northwest community for follow- ing Gov. Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order. If you’ve been wor- rying that you aren’t doing enough to help out during this time of crisis, rest assured that by staying home, you’ve been actively helping to save lives. Thank you for enduring the frustration and isolation of social distancing as we flatten the curve together. And we thank every single essen- tial worker in our region for keeping people as healthy, safe, informed and comfortable as possible during this extraordinary time. Health care workers and first responders are keeping our family, friends, cowork- ers and neighbors alive, reacting to a brand-new virus in real time. Local municipal, transport and utility employees are supporting us through difficult economic times and helping us stay connected. Teachers and schools have made the remarkable leap to online learning at a moment’s notice. Grocery, pharmacy, hard- ware, restaurant and essential retail workers are ensuring that people’s elemental needs are still met. And delivery personnel are making it possible for large numbers of us to stay home, slowing the virus’ spread throughout our region. Each of us has a valuable role in seeing us safely through this crisis, with the hope that we emerge together as an even stronger community. In that spirit, many of our region’s businesses also want to highlight the remarkable work their employees and partners have been doing on behalf of all of us. Here are some of their stories. King County Metro thanks: Luisa Quiambao How we’re operating: As an essential service, King County Met- ro continues to support essential workers as well as transit-reliant customers who count on Metro for access to food and medicine. How do Luisa Quiambao and her team help keep us safer? Lead transit custodian Luisa Quiambao has worked for King County Metro since 1994, but her work has taken on even greater impor- tance since the emergence of COVID-19. She and her team clean and dis- infect bus bases, the transit tunnel and other workspaces, and are relied upon every day to protect the health of colleagues and customers. Wearing a Tyvek suit, an N95 mask and other protective equipment, Quiambao cleans every area from top to bottom— from armrests to doorknobs to vending machines — being sure not to miss a spot while fighting an invisible enemy. In addition to frequent scheduled cleanings, her team is also quickly called into action when an area needs to be sanitized after potential exposure from a person with a positive diagnosis. That response — which often means working longer hours until the job is done — allows others to return to their workspace with renewed peace of mind. Quiambao admits that she was scared initially, but encourages her team and herself to stay vigilant, to keep healthy, to take their vitamins, to always wear their protective equip- ment and to make sure to pray. She says it’s been rewarding for her team to be appreciated and thanked by bus drivers, Metro leadership and others. Quiambao shared that one of her crew recently remarked with pride about their team’s well-deserved attention, “We’re really shining now!” Before and during COVID-19, Quiambao’s colleagues praised her positive attitude, care, grace, respect for others and ability to be counted on even in the toughest situations. Despite challenging times, she keeps others motivated daily and reminds them that everything has an end. In fact, she’s already started to invite her coworkers to a barbecue to cele- brate — when that time comes. How has Metro’s work changed during the pandemic? We moved to a reduced schedule – in response both to reduced ridership as people heed the direction of public health officials to stay home, and to main- tain a sustainable workforce that’s able to help our region persevere and recover from COVID-19. We’ve also moved quickly, guided by Public Health – Seattle & King County, to make essential travel as safe as possible. These steps have included: • Strongly recommending that em- ployees who are high risk stay home to protect their health and strength- ening our paid leave policies. • Increasing the frequency of disinfecting and deep-cleaning of transit vehicles, boats and facilities. • Providing personal protective equipment (PPE) to our employees. • Minimizing driver-to-passenger interaction by directing riders to board at rear doors if they are able, eliminating fares and installing safety straps. • Strongly urging passengers to wear a mask or face covering. • Redeploying security personnel to support safety and social distancing on transit and at terminals. • Promoting social distancing at bases and worksites, and onboard our vehicles and boats. The University of Washington thanks: Kristin Jones 2019 alumna, Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) How has the pandemic affect- ed UW operations? The UW is open, with some functions (includ- ing classes) online only. How Kristin Jones is helping: Kristin Jones is a registered nurse on the Burn, Plastics and Pediatric Trauma Unit at UW Medicine’s Harborview Medical Center. Why it matters: Nurses today are being asked to make more sac- rifices to care for others than ever before. Kristin will be graduat- ing in June with a nursing degree from the Uni- versity of Wash- ington School of Nursing. While she primarily serves as an RN at UW Medicine’s Harborview Medical Center, she and other medical personnel are trained to respond to COVID-19 patients. Kristin and her colleagues show courage every day as they step into the unknown, do things differently and plan for whatever comes next. The University of Washington thanks: Karin Huster 2005 alumna, Bachelor of Science in nursing, 2013 UW master’s degree in public health. Clinical instructor in the departments of Global Health and Psychosocial and Community Health How Karin Huster is helping: Working with both Doctors Without Borders and Public Health — Seattle & King County. How this work is making a difference: In these times of uncertainty throughout the world, nurses are depended on more than ever. University of Washington Global Health instructor Karin Huster has served on the front lines of COVID-19 response on two continents since the early days of the outbreak. In January 2020, she was the field coordinator for the Doctors Without Borders response in Hong Kong, covering the East Asia region.When she returned to the We’ll make it through this — thanks to you I f there’s been any kind of silver lining to the public health crisis facing our region, it’s this: By forcing us to remain physically apart from one another, the coronavirus has shown how fundamentally connected we really are. Day in and day out, we have depended on each other in ways we rarely gave a second thought to before the pandemic. But now we see that we are truly better together. Continued on G6 Lifelong.org is delivering thousands of meals to vulnerable members of the community. See its profile on G6. BECU would like to extend our gratitude to the many essential workers. THANK YOU NURSES MAKE A DIFFERENCE It’s never been more clear how important nurses are for our community. MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR NURSES Let’s show them we have their backs. Take action tohelpnurses at wsna.org/helpnurses