Michael Pass the Facilities Manager of Groote Schuur Hospital has been celebrated by Heroes of Groote Schuur for all that he does to support other staff
Cape Town, South Africa (01 October 2020) – Heroes of Groote Schuur is a Facebook page dedicated to highlighting the amazing people who work or visit the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.
The page is highlighting all the incredible working being done by the staff who keep everything running smoothly. Heroes featured on the page often have the most interesting jobs, especially now during lockdown when so much was up in the air.
This time the page is celebrating Michael Pass, the Facilities Manager who juggles many balls and makes sure everyone is taken care of. Michael says he is on call 24/7 365 days a year! He was the man behind setting up the COVID testing centre at the hospital and he also works really hard to keep costs down. This is his story.
“I’ve been here at Groote Schuur for 28 years. I’m the Facilities Manager, overseeing nine departments that include security, telephone exchange, admin registry, Rochester House, medical-legal, medical records and printing.
Every day is something different. I never know what the day will hold. I get calls day and night, 24/7, 365 days a year.
I was responsible for setting up the COVID Testing Centre in less than a month. I’ve also had to renovate the E4 area to set up two COVID theatres and an ICU – which took a little over a month.
As far as the telephones go, I am trying to bring the monthly bill down. It used to be around R600,000 a month. Now it’s about R250 000. My goal is to get it down to zero.
Rochester House is our staff accommodation. I have 350 rooms which are currently full in this COVID period and we have a waiting list of about 30 people who want to come in. 50 Rooms are available for overnights for staff that are working in COVID areas and don’t want to go home and potentially infect their families. Staff visiting is the biggest headache there. People drag their friends and colleagues along and try to sneak them in.
I also help to coordinate the Red Dot Service – which is a Western Cape government transport service for staff. It collects people at 7 pm and drops them off at their homes. No more than seven people are allowed in one vehicle at a time, so we have a booking system. It’s a reliable way of ensuring staff can get home safely.” – Michael Pass, Facilities Manager
People like Michael help keep things running so that lives can be saved every day. He is a behind-the-scenes hero and we are so happy to put a face to his actions.
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