Today you may have seen or heard that Premier Daniel Andrews announced that Western Health is now overseeing the operations of an aged care facility in our region, due to concerns about the circumstances in that centre.
I am grateful to Jeff Garner, who has agreed to act as the Aged Care Commission’s advisor to Florence Aged Care Facility in Altona North.
Jeff will be working closely with the facility to ensure that staffing levels are adequate and that systems and processes for PPE are in place. He will also be overseeing the implementation of changes so that the facility is able to support the level of care required for its residents.
I know the times ahead will be difficult and I thank Jeff for his willingness to step up and in to this very challenging task.
Today the Premier also announced that Djerriwarrh Health Service, with support from Ramsay Healthcare, will now be supporting another facility, Kalyna in Delahey, where there have also been serious concerns. Another similar arrangement has also been put in place with Melbourne Health overseeing Glenlyn in Glenroy.
I would like, once again, to pay tribute to all of our staff but single out the incredible Western Health aged care in-reach teams who have been undertaking highly complex and traumatic work trying to support two of those facilities (Florence and Kalyna) under exceptionally tough circumstances for a number of weeks, along with numerous other facilities. I am extremely proud of those team members and thank them for everything they have done. I feel Western Health’s advice, assessment and advocacy for the residents of these facilities and more homes in our region, has been an important contribution to enable the decisions and actions taken by Government.
Thank you to Dr Claire White, and team, for her leadership and tireless commitment to the care of the most vulnerable in the many aged care facilities in our region dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks and for her unfailing support for all of our geriatricians and nursing staff. Every one of those team members – including management – are making a difference for hundreds of patients at this difficult time.
Regards
Russell
COVID Daily Summary
Number of tests performed by Western Health across sites – 720
Number of inpatients with confirmed COVID-19: 88