Chief Executive Update: Wednesday 30 March 2022

Update on resumption of activity

The ongoing spread of COVID-19 affects the wider community in different ways and we in healthcare are also impacted.

Our capacity to provide our usual range of services is impacted by both demand related issues, such as increased COVID-19 admissions, alongside our ability to maintain operational capacity with enough people to run all our services.

The current increase in cases is not seeing a large increase in hospital admissions, although it still takes up around two inpatient wards at the moment and is expected to increase further.  At the same time, we have seen a more significant increase in healthcare workers being impacted through direct infection and isolation requirements.

Our emergency departments – like others across the state – are also under great pressure with a significant increase in non-COVID presentations.

These and other pressures come at a time when Easter and the school holidays are just around the corner and many people have scheduled a well-deserved break.

As we have steadily resumed our services following the reduction in cases, we have done so with the understanding that we may need to adjust our plans if and when case numbers rise. We are now at that point, and we need to modify our service resumption plans in the lead-up to Easter and make staged adjustments to meet the increasing COVID-19 demand.

In recent weeks, we have brought several services back online, including four operating theatres at Moorabbin, one procedural ward and one inpatient ward. Ward C at Casey has also been recommissioned, and some Youth and Family services have resumed, including the Multi Disciplinary Nursing service and the gynaecology clinic, along with the SECASA schools program.

We are continuing to work towards the CCU move from Dandenong to Casey Hospital after Anzac Day.

Changes to our vaccination program 

Since delivering the State’s first COVID-19 vaccination on 22 February 2021, Monash Health’s South East Public Health Unit has gone on to deliver over 1.4 million doses to the community, of which nearly one million have been administered in Monash Health clinics. Thank you to everyone who has made this amazing effort possible.

Having supported over 90 per cent of those eligible in the community to be vaccinated, we continue to see a natural decrease in the demand for the vaccine both in the south east and across Victoria.

To adjust to the new demand, changes will be made to our vaccination program that will see primary care, being GPs and pharmacies, become the primary providers of COVID-19 vaccinations.

This transition will mean a scale-down of vaccination clinics. We will continue to provide our employees with priority and easy access to vaccination. Planning is currently underway to ensure future availability.

Welcome to our graduates

It’s very pleasing to see the new graduates in different disciplines start their careers at Monash Health. I would like to welcome all of our graduates who have started in recent weeks and encourage you to help any new starters feel part of the team.  

We’ve welcomed 549 new medical, nursing, midwifery and mental health nursing grads alone, with allied health and other disciplines also starting their rotations. I’d encourage you to read some of the stories of these enthusiastic young people who will work with us to provide excellent care to our community.

Thank you all for your hard work and compassion, as we navigate this next phase of work.

To help you stay across the current state of play with COVID-19 precautions, we’ve put together a Current COVID-19 Guidance Summary. The factsheet is available on the COVID-19 website and brings together the latest guidance around public health measures, testing, isolation, PPE and ways of working.

Additional booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine approved for those at greatest risk 

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has approved a winter booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine to increase vaccine protection before winter for people at greatest risk of severe illness from COVID-19. This is an additional booster dose to your first booster dose. 

People can receive an additional booster dose for winter if they have had their primary vaccinations and a booster dose, in addition to meeting one of the following criteria: 

• people aged 65 years and older 
• residents of aged care or disability care facilities 
• people aged 16 years and older who are severely immunocompromised 
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 years and older

The Department of Health has confirmed the Hospital Surge Support Allowance payments will cease on 31 March 2022.  The temporary allowance was introduced in October 2021 in response to the COVID-19 surge and was initially in place until 10 February 2022. It was later extended to 31 March 2022.   All payments will cease on 31 March 2022, and managers will no longer need to complete Hospital Surge Support Allowance details on Kronos.

Thank you to our team members, our managers who have entered the allowance details into Kronos, and our Shared Services team which has managed the payments.

STAR Award nominations close tomorrow – Thursday 31 March 2022

STAR Award nominations for this quarter close on Thursday 31 March. Our STAR Awards acknowledge and celebrate individuals and teams who demonstrate their commitment to our guiding principles and values. 

If you know of a colleague or team who has demonstrated an extraordinary example of kindness, respect, or excellence in the last few months, nominate them today for a STAR Award. 

If you are looking for some inspiration, learn more about the eight categories awarded and read the stories of past winners. 

Free access to Healthy Body and Mind Hub

All Monash Health employees have access to the Healthy Body and Mind Hub, a new fitness and wellbeing resource online, helping you reach your health and wellness goals by giving you access to education, motivation and encouragement. Read more about how you can access this platform.

Be Well there for your teams

To support your teams, the Be Well program has been expanded and is available for your support. The Be Well team of psychologists helps managers support their teams through proactive check-ins, psychological first aid after critical events, coaching and counselling, and wellbeing strategies.