We’re celebrating ASHE’s Healthcare Facilities and Engineering Week by spotlighting some of our own healthcare maintenance heroes. We interviewed Michele Neff, a Customer Support Specialist at FSI. She spends her days talking to our wonderful customers and helping them with anything from small questions, to CMMS training, to pulling complex reports.
Learn more about her background, all the hard work she does behind the scenes, and some fun facts about her outside of work including her favorite Thanksgiving food.
Tell us a little bit about your background.
I've been in customer service since I started working at 16 years old. I've been in food service, the hotel industry, and the last 10 years have all been in healthcare in the facilities maintenance department.
I have also covered the environmental services and nutrition departments in an admin role. At that time I was using FSI’s CMMS. So, that's how I got here.
What is your current role at FSI?
I am a Customer Support Specialist. I talk to our customers every day, all day, whether they're finding an issue, things aren't working the way they think they should, or they don't remember how to do something.
Training is one of the larger parts of what we do. I talk to a lot of people that aren't in the system as much as we are. They might forget how to do things or maybe are new and haven't had an experience with FSI’s CMMS before. I have a hand in everything to do with the customer.
What do you like the most about your job?
That aha moment. When you lead them in the direction, maybe it's not the problem. Maybe there's a different way that can do something. And they go, “Oh, I understand now!” When you hear them feel more comfortable with the software and then it helps them do what they need to do. That's my favorite part.
What is your favorite part of being in the healthcare maintenance industry?
Facilities play a huge part in The Joint Commission inspections. Even the littlest thing will get hospitals dinged. Our software helps them keep track of it all and tells them if it's used correctly. We have a lot of people out there that rely heavily on us to make sure that they pass those Joint Commissions inspections. If the facilities department specifically doesn’t pass, it can get a hospital shut down.
You can't afford to have a hospital shut down. Not only do you cost jobs, but you're also looking at the patient end. You're not servicing the community at that point. It's a trickle-down effect.
It could be something as small as generator inspections not being kept track of. If they don't have proper documentation, it can be really bad for them. So, this software it's amazing. FSI’s CMMS does an excellent job of helping them get where they need to be, which ultimately keeps hospitals running and keeps the community safe.
What is a fun fact about you?
I absolutely enjoy horror. I am a huge Stephen King fan. I enjoy watching horror movies and scaring the crap out of my daughter.
One of my favorite movies is Kill Bill, and I'm a Harry Potter fan. It's a great mix!
What are some of your hobbies outside of work?
Reading in the summertime. I love to hang out at the pool and go swimming. Swimming has been one of my favorite things to do since I was a kid. I could also say online shopping, but who doesn't love that?
With the holiday season coming up, what is your favorite Thanksgiving food?
That would have to be the homemade mashed potatoes. There are so many different things you can do with them, other than just your plain mashed potatoes. You can put so many toppings in them, they’re so versatile.
Do you have an example of a story you’d like to share about why you enjoy your job?
I do. There are just so many people that we talk to in a day or email, but yes. Here’s one. There's a technician that has a lot to do with the CMMS items. He is in there all the time. He had a Joint Commission inspection coming up.
Well, he called me saying, “I need a list of this, and I need it immediately because I feel like if I go in and look for it myself, I'm going to get the wrong things. Can you help me?”
And I said, “Yeah, absolutely. Here, I'll send you an export.” I also showed him how to easily pull the report on his own as well.
He was very thankful and appreciative. He said ‘I know it may have seemed simple on your end, but on our end, just being able to get those reports over to us and have them and not have to worry about whether or not I've got the right information, it’s absolutely helpful. It’s also very helpful knowing that we can easily access those in the software.’
I love helping people.