Colleagues from over 25 stores came together to help local hospitals

JYSK created a 150.000 lei emergency fund with the purpose of equipping Romanian hospitals that are treating COVID-19 patients and that are in need of products such as pillows, duvets and bed linen. Managers of 18 hospitals and an ambulance service responded to our initiative, while colleagues from over 25 JYSK stores rushed to prepare and deliver the products as soon as possible.  

On the 25th of March, in Romania, at the time when JYSK announced the emergency fund, there were 906 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The same day, authorities were announcing that Suceava has the biggest coronavirus outbreak, with 170 cases, out of which 80 were medical workers. More and more companies and more and more individuals were offering to help the medical system in Romania prepare for the fight against coronavirus.

During the following days we received requests from hospitals, had talks with doctors, hospital managers and people from the hospitals’ acquisition departments. They were all preparing for the even bigger wave of cases that were, as we have seen in other countries, sure to come.

They were preparing additional beds for the increasing number of patients, and for these they needed duvets, pillows and bed linen. They were preparing rooms for the doctors to rest in during the following period. Because they are much more exposed to the infection risk, medical staff are not going back home to their families, to avoid exposing them to the virus. They stay at the hospital, and their workplace is becoming their home as well. The hospitals needed folding beds, sofa beds, mattresses, linen, pillows and duvets for these rooms.

During our phone meetings we felt the same mood in all the hospitals’ representatives. We felt that they were in full stir, but each of them knew what their hospital needed and was grateful for any help they could get.

Our colleagues’ help

Since the 23rd of March 2020, all the JYSK stores in Romania are temporarily closed. When they heard of JYSK’s initiative, the colleagues in our stores were happy they are working in an involved company. District Managers, Store Managers, and colleagues from our stores mobilised to prepare and deliver our products to the hospitals as soon as possible. They went to the stores, stacked the products on pallets, arranged the transportation and, in some cities, accompanied the deliverer to the destination.

“Our colleagues were enthusiastic that we can help the hospitals and appreciated JYSK’s initiative to donate. In Constanța, the delivery company representative told us they will deliver the products to the hospital free of charge, so that they can help as well. This left me with a  good impression, as I witnessed other donations and I am happy that we are doing this constantly”, said Cornel Pescaru, District Manager.

Products for two local hospitals were delivered from our store in Baia Mare. The Pneumophtisiology Hospital “Dr. Nicolae Rusdea” Baia Mare and the Infectious Diseases and Psychiatry hospital Baia Mare. Ildiko Bada, Store Manager, prepared the products for the hospitals alongside two other colleagues: Over 100 duvets, over 100 pillows, 80 bed linen and 200 towels.

“We were happy that we could participate, be involved in helping the hospitals. We prepared and delivered the products. Only two of us could go to the hospital for the delivery, but all three of us wanted to go. The hospital staff were happy, especially those from the Pneumophtisiology Hospital that were waiting for us and were in great need of duvets, pillows and linen because they were preparing a large number of beds. All three of us, Valentina Bot, Lucian Tibil and myself, were very happy”, says Ildiko Bada.

Communities come together

Huși is a city of 26.000 inhabitants situated close to the Republic of Moldova border, in Vaslui. Here, says Alina Roman, Store manager JYSK Huși, everybody knows everybody. The JYSK store in Huși is close to the Huși Ambulance Service building, and the Ambulance workers, says Alina, are clients of the JYSK store. When Alina shared the news on Facebook that JYSK is donating products to hospitals, the Ambulance workers saw the message.

“The people who work on the Ambulance are our clients. They come to our store and shop products for their personal use. We know each other, because we live in a small city. First they asked me when will we reopen the store. I told them we do not know. Then they saw my post on Facebook and asked if they qualify for our campaign. They are frequent customers of ours, because their headquarters are right across the road from our store”, says Alina. She is happy JYSK could help the Ambulance Service furnish an isolation room, where Ambulance employees that come in contact with an infected patient can isolate from their families.  

Marius Andronic, Store Manager, also works in Moldova, in Suceava, the region that was most affected by the coronavirus. The city was already in quarantine when Marius received a request for help from the Mayor of Fălticeni, a city 28 km away from Suceava.

“The Mayor shops in our store and he found out about our initiative. He called us and asked if we can offer any help. I prepared the products together with Ioana Popescu, the Store Manager from JYSK Suceava 2. It was difficult to enter the city, because it was in quarantine. We told the Police that we are delivering products for a hospital, we shouwed them the delivery papers, and they let us through. On our way back they recognized us and let us through to reach Fălticeni”, Marius remembers. He delivered bed linen, pillows and duvets to the Fălticeni Municipal Hospital, where a new building was just finished and now it needed amenities.

Eager to return to work

The majority of hospitals that asked for help are from Transilvania, from the district where Mihai Baltariu is a District Manager. The stores that Mihai manages delivered products to eight hospitals.

“All the colleagues were happy to go to the stores and get the products ready for delivery. I told them to take care of themselves, to use masks, gloves, disinfectant gel, to keep a safe distance from each other, to take all the necessary precautions. All of them are eager to go back to work. A colleague from Cluj has just posted a photo on Facebook in which she is pictured in the store and she wrote she misses her workplace. I am talking about colleagues that have been working in this company for years and that are very dedicated. They miss the good results, they miss the satisfaction they felt when they saw good KPIs”, says Mihai Baltariu.

Alina Roman from JYSK Huși is also ready to go back and work in the store: “Our city is quiet now. Everyone is wearing protective masks and gloves. And the store staff is eager to reopen the store, to arrange the goods on the shelves, to make planograms, to do all sorts of tasks.”