SJHS to add respite rooms in hospital for frontline healthcare workers

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. – The Saint Joseph Health System recently received a $10,000 donation from Macy’s in Mishawaka to help them in their efforts to support and care for the front-line healthcare workers battling the pandemic.

Organizational Design and Development Consultant Aubree Schenkel said the money will be used to make three respite rooms. They plan to build them starting Monday, Feb. 22 and should be available in the next couple of months.

“The respite rooms will really in our opinion provide a space, kind of that sacred space for them to just be able to relax, have a moment. Especially, pandemic non-pandemic if there is a stressful day, stressful situation to be able to remove themselves, even if it's for 10 minutes,” Schenkel said.

Schenkel said it’s necessary to help health care workers cope with the ongoing stress, to help with burn-out within the profession. These respite rooms will be located at three different locations. They will be found at the Mishawaka and Plymouth hospitals, and the administrative building in downtown Mishawaka.

It's part of the hospital's “Take Care Program” which was started in July of 2020 and offers frontline health care workers the resources and tools they need to de-stress and care for themselves mentally and physically.

“The outside world doesn’t stop because they’re doing such an awesome job at caring for everyone else, unfortunately,” Schenkel said. “And so, we think that certainly through this program we’ve been able to identify a process to at least give them some information to help them through some of these difficult situations.”