NBC NEWS: These are the most dangerous jobs you can have in the age of coronavirus

Read full story featuring Local 1 janitor Luisa Gonzalez at NBC News

Luisa Gonzalez climbs the bus steps to go to work every day as a janitor at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in downtown Chicago. Gonzalez, 66, has worked at the hospital for nearly 20 years, emptying trash cans, disinfecting floors and tidying rooms between patients.

Gonzalez is among thousands of people who work in hospitals and health care facilities who aren't medical staff, but they are exposed to some of the same hazards every day. They make up about a sixth of hospital employees in Chicago, according to a 2018 study. In New York City, more than 30 non-medical hospital employees have died.

Non-medical staff members said they were among the last to get masks when protective equipment was in short supply. They may also be the last to be told how to protect themselves, which patients are sick, what rooms to be more careful in. "Nobody gives us all the information when something happens," Gonzalez said.

A spokesperson for the hospital said it has provided protective equipment throughout the pandemic. He added that the hospital screens employees for symptoms daily, provides additional pay and is "proud of the exceptional work happening every day."

Gonzalez, a cancer survivor who is diabetic, said she wears masks and gloves religiously on the bus, at work and on her way home. She strips off her clothes when she walks in the door and cleans her phone and keys with alcohol.

"I follow all the rules," Gonzalez said. Staying home isn't an option for her or her co-workers, she said. "If we don't come to work, nobody pays us. The government sent us $1,200, but it's not enough."

"And they need us, too," she said of her hospital. "If we don't come to work, who is going to do the job?"