A housekeeping manager needed extra hands at her Downers Grove health care facility. Her 3 kids stepped up.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was a punch in the gut to Julie Johnson of Naperville, yet she had never felt a greater sense of responsibility for her work and the patients she serves.
As housekeeping and laundry manager for the Providence of Downers Grove campus, which includes a health care and rehabilitation center and the Saratoga Grove senior living facility, Johnson found herself working around the clock last spring to update her team's protocols and boost disinfection and sanitization frequencies, particularly for high-touch surfaces.
New logistical and staffing challenges arose when Providence opened a COVID-19 recovery unit last April to treat patients recently discharged from the hospital or in need of extra assistance after they tested positive. The team needed more hands, Johnson said, but a lack of applicants due to the uncertainties of the virus made the hiring process difficult.
She soon found help from three unexpected sources: her grown children sent home from college.
"I was watching the news all the time and hearing stories about people's experiences with COVID," said her 20-year-old son, Sean Johnson. "I really wanted to help out and do something about it."
Dressed in full personal protective equipment, Sean and his younger brother, Patrick, worked 40-hour weeks throughout the summer, disinfecting desks, doorknobs, railings and other surfaces every couple of hours, he said. Patrick took the 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift, after which Sean would take over until 10 p.m.
Their 22-year-old sister, Delaney, was in nursing school, so she stepped in as a certified nursing assistant in the COVID-19 unit. She has since become a registered nurse, her mom said.
Her children embraced the experience as a learning opportunity, never thinking twice about the risk or complaining about the work, Julie Johnson said. They even formed bonds with the residents, who have been isolated and unable to accept visitors.
"It really was a blessing for them, I think," she said. "It was awesome. It was a huge help."
COVID-19 case counts were down by the time her kids returned to college at the end of the summer, though they started picking up again later in the fall and into winter, Johnson said. She and other managers would go into work on weekends and holidays, not only to manage the increased workload but also to spend more time with residents and help them FaceTime their families.
Sean returned to help out in the COVID-19 unit when he was home for winter break, even taking on extra shifts on Christmas Eve and New Year's Day.
"Knowing those residents can't be with their families was really heartbreaking," he said.
Roughly 400 people have recovered in Providence's COVID-19 unit, which was made up of 14 rooms in an isolated area of the rehabilitation center, company leaders said.
Employees know better than to let their guard down, even as circumstances appear to be improving, both locally and statewide, Johnson said. But after a year of fear and uncertainty, of working long hours in a high-stakes environment, she can't help but reflect on the importance of her team's work and camaraderie.
"When you have a good management team and support system, when something terrible happens like this, you feel blessed," Johnson said. "I was really lucky to have the people I've had around me during this time."
Her kids included.