Linh Schmelling doesn’t like the spotlight. She’s not a fan of cameras. None of that is why she does what she does.
Rather, the longtime room service specialist in St. Tammany Health System’s Food and Nutrition Services Department does it for a much more selfless reason.
“The patients,” the self-described “people person” said when asked what motivates her every day. “They make any day special.”
Anyone who has ever stayed at the health system’s Covington hospital has probably spoken with Linh at some point. Hers is one of the cheerful voices that answers the phone – hundreds of times every day – when someone calls for room service dining.
Of course, given that it’s a hospital, she does more than simply enter meal orders. She makes menu suggestions based on a patient’s diet order. She also does what she can to lift spirits.
And when she’s not staffing the phones, she’s doing last-minute checks on patients’ meal orders right before they’re sent up to their room, just to make sure any special needs have been properly addressed.
“Linh is what I consider a core colleague,” STHS’s Director of Food and Nutrition Services Joanna Wilbanks said. “She has that special skill set and dedication that’s essential to operations and growth of the department. We can always count on her to be there for us and with us, whatever we need.
“She treats everyone like they’re her only patient. You should hear her on the phone,” Wilbanks added. “She gets really excited for patients when they tell her they are going home. She always follows up with ‘Thank you for choosing St. Tammany Health System.’”
Linh smiles when she hears that kind of talk. “It’s a wonderful team to work with, to be a part of,” she said.
She doesn’t linger on it, though. There are phones to be answered. Orders to be filled.
“Room Service Dining, this is Linh. How may I help you?”