11 September 2020

Dear Residents, Families and Friends,

Although it is a challenging time for all residents and staff at Woornack, I am pleased to say that the residents are resting comfortably in their rooms and remain in good spirits.  Many of the residents diagnosed with COVID-19 remain symptom free.  We continue to monitor every resident very closely and if there is a change to your family member’s health status, we will contact you as soon as possible.

The results from the latest round of testing at Woornack have now come through and unfortunately, we have four more residents who have tested positive to the virus.

Our team of specialist nurses as well as medical staff from Western Health are monitoring each resident’s health and wellbeing and we continue to strongly advocate for the transfer of residents to hospital where this is necessary.  No resident will be transferred to hospital without us first discussing this with the resident and the resident’s family or representative.

We are determined to ensure this virus does not spread and I have deployed every resource possible to achieve this.  We have additional staff at the Home to assist in the management of care and a high level of infection control in place.  As part of the infection control protocol we may need to move a resident to another room.  We will do this in a way that is sensitive to their needs.  We will take care of their belongings and undertake to move them back to their room as soon as we are able.

A deep clean of the home is occurring daily with additional touch point and cleaning processes in place.  Staff will continue to wear full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when attending to residents.

Please contact the home on 9312 0111 if you or your family member have an enquiry or concern.  The email address for questions is covid19questions@dgas.org.au.

If you or your family would like more support during this difficult time, please reach out to OPAN (Older Persons Advisory Network) on 1800 237 981.  They are available 6am-10pm, 7 days a week.  The other organisation that can assist you is Elder Rights Advocacy Victoria who can be reached on 1800 171 866 for support and advice.

We understand this is a very distressing time for everyone involved.  We will work together to ensure that every resident continues to receive the care they need.

Yours sincerely

Vanda Iaconese

CEO