Ashia Rogers is cool. Like, cucumber cool. Other-side-of-the-pillow cool. Fonzie cool.
And while that’s a good characteristic in almost any situation, it makes the Bedico resident particularly well-suited for her job as one of St. Tammany Health System’s PBX operators, the people behind the soothing first voices heard by often-anxious callers.
“Especially if they’re calling for somebody in the emergency room, you have to realize some people are in a stressful situation,” Ashia said. “You just try to keep them calm, try to be courteous and just understand they’re going through a rough time. They might snap at you; it’s not your fault. You do have to keep that in mind.”
But even if the chief duty of the PBX team is answering the main phone line – and making a good first impression in the process – it’s by no means all they do.
The nine-person PBX team, which staffs the phones 24/7, are more like air-traffic controllers.
In addition to answering the “code” phone and issuing the requisite alerts over the whole-hospital intercom (yes, Ashia admits to practicing her voice-of-God delivery at home), they also monitor fire and other alarms, answer basic IT calls from colleagues and generally act as information central.
“We’re just all-knowing, all-transferring,” Ashia said with a laugh.
Truth be told, she’s well-practiced in keeping cool while dealing with people. Before joining the PBX team in mid-2021, she worked for three years in the health system’s Patient Relations Department, which also required a certain level-headedness.
On top of that, Lead PBX Operator Celita Hart said, Ashia is as dependable as they come.
“Ashia adjusted her schedule for her co-workers to have Thanksgiving off to spend with their families,” Hart said. “She also agreed to work Christmas Eve night and the full shift Christmas Day. She’s the epitome of a team player.”
Ashia shrugs off such praise. She's happy to do it, and for the same reason she gives when asked why she enjoys working at St. Tammany.
“The people,” she said. “It’s a family here. You feel it. The people here really make it a nice place to work.”