Introducing… a food service associate

Elizabeth Nagy is a food service associate at Nora’s Fresh Cafe at Juravinski Hospital. She has worked at HHS for 5 years.

Favourite colour: pink/music: oldies/animal: kittens/food: chicken and dumplings/holiday: Thanksgiving

What made you want to work at Nora’s?
I wanted to be able to help people. I love being able to help the staff and customers that come to Nora’s Fresh Cafe for a bite to eat or a break from work. I had been off work for a few months and started at Nora’s as a volunteer. I was so happy to be hired on as a staff member and love everything I do here.

What do you love most about your job?
What I love the most is working with a wonderful team and having two wonderful managers. They make me feel very valued in my role. When I’m off for a day, people will come up to me and say the place isn’t the same without me. It makes me feel really special.

I know a lot of patients and families and staff that come into Nora’s need someone to talk to and I wish I had more time to be that person.

What is one thing you wish patients, families and staff knew about you?
One thing I wish they knew was how much I look forward to seeing them. I tell staff and patients to come down to see me because I know that sometimes it is a break in a very hard day for them. I get to know people who come down regularly and I miss them when they don’t pop in. I wish they knew that I’m always here for them if they need a little pick-me-up.

What do you wish you had more time for at work?
One thing I wish I had more time for was to talk to the staff members and customers. I love to clean and make sure everything is sparkling but sometimes that means I can’t talk to people for very long. I know a lot of patients and families and staff that come into Nora’s need someone to talk to and I wish I had more time to be that person.

What do you do to stay energized at work?
To stay energized I keep moving and never stop until my lunch or when it’s time to leave. People are always amazed by how much I move around at work.

When you tell people what you do, how do they usually react?
When I tell people I clean at Nora’s they often tell me that it’s really clean and that I’m doing a great job. I almost cry happy tears when I hear that because they’ve noticed all of the work I put in.