MADIGAN ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. – Madigan Army Medical Center has thousands of staff members and hundreds of clinical rooms. With all of that comes cloth. From scrubs to privacy curtains to bed linens, it all adds up to untold yards of cloth to maintain. The Environmental Services Branch within the Logistics Division takes care of them all.

When the order went out recently from the commander for everyone on the Madigan campus to cover their face whenever they are in public areas and cannot guarantee six feet of distance from others, one seamstress took it upon herself to create face coverings for her colleagues.

“(Hwan) Peveto has continued to do an outstanding job doing her regular duties during this pandemic and then stepped up to ensure that not only the Environmental Services Branch had masks available, but Logistics as well,” said Chris Roberts, the chief of the Environmental Services Branch which oversees Peveto’s Linen Section.

Recognizing that some coworkers on the linen staff found breathing challenging with the various disposable masks they’d tried, Peveto figured she could engineer a covering that would work better for them.

Peveto, who keeps to herself in the ground floor areas that make the hospital hum, quickly became determined to apply her talents to the need.

“She is never one to back down from tackling a big job,” said Roberts.

With fabric from old uniforms and lab coats, twist ties that come with trash bags to form a nose bridge and a bit of elastic, a suitable, and stylish, design emerged.

Her supervisors were supportive and her coworkers are happy to have face coverings that both fulfill the need and fit comfortably.

Like many of her colleagues, Peveto, who has been with Madigan for 20 years, has shunned the attention her ingenuity and initiative have garnered. Yet, Madigan Commander Col. Thomas Bundt expressed a deep desire to highlight her efforts, knowing she is one of many dedicated staff members who have been finding all manner of ways to help make these unusual times a bit easier to navigate.

“We just want to say thank you to her; she’s like an unsung hero down there,” said Bundt, for whom Peveto created a mask.

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