Doutta Galla COVID-19

 4 August 2020 

Dear Residents, Families and Friends, 

I am writing to provide an update on Yarraville Village COVID -19 test results that were finalised today. Sadly, I need to inform you that there are four residents who have tested positive to COVID -19. 

Over the past weeks my senior staff and I, have been strongly advocating to the Government to facilitate the transfer of residents to hospital should they test positive to COVID-19. Today this work has led to the successful transfer to hospital of all four residents who have tested positive to COVID-19. All those families have been contacted and the transfer discussed. 

All other residents are resting comfortably in their rooms and reports from the Home are that they remain in good spirits. We continue to monitor every resident very closely. If there is any change to your family member’s health status, we will contact you as soon as possible. No resident will be transferred to hospital without first discussing this with the resident and the resident’s family or representative. 

To further support our residents, we are seeking to engage a Social Worker to be available for additional emotional and pastoral support. We are hopeful they will be available to commence work at the Home this Thursday, but I cannot confirm this yet. 

We are determined to resolve this situation as fast as we possibly can. We continue to work closely with the Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Unit. We have additional staff at the Home to assist in the management of care, the high level of infection control and to ensure residents receive the extra care and support they need. 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. 

As each day passes there are new challenges we all face in the fight against this virus. We are making decision very quickly in the interests of our residents. They are paramount in our thoughts and every resource we have is being provided to ensure we make the best decisions that we can as urgently as we are able. Even though some residents have been transferred they remain a resident of Doutta Galla and will be welcomed back to Yarraville as soon as that is possible. We will be keeping up to date with their progress as all our residents remain the most valued members of the Doutta Galla community. 

Please contact the home on 9687 8233 if you or your family member have an enquiry or concern. The email address for questions is covid19questions@dgas.org.au. 

We understand this is a very distressing time for everyone involved, and our Doutta Galla mantra of “we’re with you” holds firm. 

Yours sincerely 

Vanda Iaconese
CEO 

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