By Roger Caldwell
Michael Parker is an accomplished and driven leader in Environmental and Support Services, with a proven history of overseeing healthcare centers and clinical services operations to ensure effective and quality patient care. He has over thirty years of experience in management, twenty of those years being in healthcare contract management with various responsibilities in environmental services, linen, food services, hotels, concierge, and transport.
Mr. Parker is the Director, Environmental Services & Corporate Linen Services at Orlando Regional Medical Center, Orlando Health’s flagship hospital. He currently serves as the Chair of Orlando Health’s Environmental Services Council.
“2021 was a very challenging year for our department,” says Mr. Parker. “We collaborated the transition of department leadership and team members from outside contractor support to an in-house program. This was accomplished while facing operational challenges directly attributable to the global COVID-19 pandemic.”
To be successful in 2021, the department hit and exceeded their goals; retained their employees with innovation, vision, coordination, and planning. Mr. Parker is a man of faith and is very active in the advancement of industry education and certification, specific to the current and future direction of the healthcare industry as relating to Environmental Services.
In 2022, Mr. Parker and his department have won numerous awards, which are a testimony to his work ethic, team spirit, and saving the Orlando Health in revenue and resources. Treating employees with respect and pride has created an atmosphere of success.
The award that Mr. Parker has won is the coveted Orlando Health Award for Excellence in Leadership. His EVS department at Orlando Regional Medical Center won, The National Department of the Year for 500+ Beds, which was awarded by the Association for the Healthcare Environment. Other awards won by the department are, the Orlando Health Marilyn King Award for Performance, and the EvSOP Award for Innovation and Technology from the Pearce Foundation.
“Incorporating patient safety issues and processes into the daily practices of all staff members has become paramount and habitual. Improvements are continually made to address the patient experience and part of daily procedures,” says Mr. Parker.
Finally, effective communication is a large aspect of success, and the team created an intra department email blast system, which can be sent exclusively to all 200 EVS team members. There is also a monthly department newsletter which highlights all things EVS, Orlando Health updates, highlights and congratulations of team members’ millstones, Kudos awards, national, local, and hospital awards.
Congratulations to Michael Parker, his leadership team and all the team members for an extraordinary year. Each team member should feel a sense of pride.
Mr. Parker is currently living in Orlando, Florida with his wife, Katrina and their yorkie terrier Roman. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, traveling, and golfing.
For more information or contact for an interview Michael.Parker@OrlandoHealth.com.
