Maintenance Team | The Heartbeat of our Hospital: Dan

Dan is a plumber at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. He is responsible for installing, maintaining, repairing, and troubleshooting plumbing systems and fixtures, ensuring the Hospital’s plumbing infrastructure functions properly and supports patient care. The job can sometimes get dirty, but Dan handles it all with professionalism and a “let’s get it done” attitude.

Dan is on call 24/7 for plumbing emergencies, and often has to come in early or stay late, to ensure a safe environment for staff and patients. “I just think about how if it was my mom whose bathroom wasn’t working, would I want her to go all night without a working toilet? No. So I come in to ensure patients have access to functioning bathrooms, clean water, whatever plumbing needs to be done to prioritize their safety,” says Dan.

Check out these photos of Dan in action, you might be surprised at what you see!

Photo 1: Dan starts his day checking all his work orders, prioritizing those based on urgency.
Photo 2: Dan handles everything from installing new pipes and fixtures to repairing leaks. Here Dan is replacing a chemical dispenser for Housekeeping. Our Hospital’s teams all work together for a safe, functioning facility.

Dan is responsible for the Hospital’s Plumbing Preventative Maintenance programs to keep plumbing equipment in good working condition. This work brings him all over the Hospital, including the Medical Device Reprocessing Department (MDRD).

Photo 3: Dan and Jodi Lewicki, Manager of the Medical Device Reprocessing Department (MDRD). Jodi calls on Dan whenever there is a plumbing need in MDRD.
Photo 4: Here he is in MDRD, inspecting the back flow prevention valves. These valves prevent chemicals or biohazards from entering the water system. There are more than 200 backflow prevention valves all over the Hospital, and Dan is responsible for them all. He takes a re-certification course every five years in backflow prevention inspection to stay current on the latest information, regulations and innovations.
  • Dan conducts regular inspections of plumbing equipment and systems to identify potential problems and ensure optimal performance.
  • Dan conducts regular inspections of plumbing equipment and systems to identify potential problems and ensure optimal performance.
  • Dan conducts regular inspections of plumbing equipment and systems to identify potential problems and ensure optimal performance.

Dan collaborates internally and with contractors to ensure essential Hospital equipment is ready to go, often working early or staying late to work around staffs’ schedules and to ensure minimal disruption to staff and patients.

Dan working with contractor (Photo 8), who will be testing his equipment for renal care on one of our backflow prevention valves (photo 9).