Chief Executive COVID-19 Update: 28 August

Message from the Chief Executive

As of today, we have:

• 23 COVID-19 positive inpatients, including two in ICU.
• 15 employees with COVID-19. They are in isolation at home and doing well.
• 122 employees in precautionary quarantine.

Celebrating success

I have enjoyed featuring our STAR award winners during the past few employee forums. We have heard some wonderful examples of Monash Health employees supporting our relentless pursuit of excellence and demonstrating their commitment to our guiding principles and values.

Yesterday we paid tribute to the winners in the Excellent Experiences category.

• Cheryl Neville is the Safewards champion for P Block. Over the last few months, she has taken the portfolio and made many changes to the environment and procedures, resulting in a more efficient, organised workplace. Cheryl has put the Safewards interventions into action and sets a fine example for her colleagues.

• Katrina Clarke and Kirsty Rosie are Family/Carer Consultants in the Mental Health Program. Through excellent and creative use of funds and resources, they have enabled employees to remain connected with carers and provided them with essential support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thank you for the work you all do. As I’ve said on many occasions, we are very fortunate to have a workforce which is professional, caring and supportive of each other.

All the best.

Andrew Stripp

Chief Executive

Key Messages

Electrical Infrastructure Upgrade

A reminder that the Electrical Infrastructure Upgrade is progressing at Clayton, with Monash Medical Centre’s theatres to temporarily close from 9pm on Friday until 9am on Sunday. Visit the intranet for more information and to download upcoming disruption schedules.

STAR Award winners honoured

Yesterday’s employee forum featured the final STAR award presentations, with the recipients of the Excellent Experiences category being recognised. We congratulate all the winners who have been recognised over the four weeks of presentations.

Nominate your colleagues for a STAR Award

During these challenging COVID-19 times, it is more important than ever that we acknowledge those who are going beyond the call of duty to do something extraordinary, and take the time to say thank you. Quarter 3 nominations are open now, and you can nominate on the STAR portal. Read more here.

Monash Health endocrinologist awarded an international leadership award  

Monash Health senior endocrinologist, Professor Helena Teede, has been recognised for Outstanding Leadership in Endocrinology in the prestigious 2021 Endocrine Society International Laureate Awards. She has also been appointed to the International Society of Endocrinology executive, recognising leadership in the field.

As well as being a leader in her clinical endocrinology role at Monash Health, including as past Head of Monash Diabetes, Professor Teede’s illustrious 20-year academic career has led to her holding numerous leadership roles in healthcare, research and policy. Learn more here.

Workplace declaration

To help improve the safety of our consumers and employees, it’s vital that we have a clear understanding of any paid, unpaid or voluntary work you do for any other organisation. If you have not done so, please complete the Employee Workplace Declaration form today.

Teamwork and lateral thinking help ease life-altering surgery stress 

The pandemic has challenged us to work in new and different ways to address barriers for our patients, and the speech pathology team at Moorabbin recently overcame more than one hurdle to help a cancer patient who required life-altering surgery.

Speech Pathologist for the Head and Neck Oncology team, Alanna Bowen, has shared a patient story, highlighting how wonderful teamwork and lateral thinking helped ease the way for a laryngectomy patient. Read more here.

The impact of COVID-19 on the LGBTIQ+ community 

COVID-19 has posed fresh challenges to every person and community. For the LGBTIQ+ community, it has disproportionately affected certain aspects of their lives, such as their mental health and their ability to access healthcare.

Dr Birgit Mumelter, Psychology Discipline Senior at the Gender Clinic, gave a presentation on the impact the current climate is having on the LGBTIQ+ community. In her presentation, Dr Mumelter outlined the ways we can help LGBTIQ+ individuals during this time. Learn more here.

Continue to take advantage of wellbeing resources

Take advantage of the health and wellbeing resources we have available for you, including the Call a Psychologist service and the employee assistance program.  Don’t forget the basics of your physical health and remember we have links to resources online for you and your teams, including a helpful guide to stretching at your desk, wherever that desk might be.

Ensure you are working to the most up-to-date advice

The information about COVID-19 is changing rapidly. Ensure you are working to the most up-to-date advice by referring to the Monash Health Employee Coronavirus website. To make accessing the site quicker, you can create a shortcut on your smartphone by following these instructions.

Events next week

We continue to run weekly Webex Events to share the latest updates and to provide an opportunity for you to ask questions. Our events next week include:

Employee Forum – Tuesday 1 September, 2pm

• COVID-19 update – Andrew Stripp, Chief Executive
• Vaccine update – Jim Buttery, Head of Infectious Diseases, Monash Children’s
• Infection prevention update – Rhonda Stuart, Medical Director, Infection Prevention and Epidemiology
• Questions

Manager Briefing – Wednesday 2 September, 2pm

• Listening loudly – Barry Bloch, Head of Organisational Transformation
• Improving our safety culture for our colleagues – Karen Lowe, Executive Director, People and Culture
• Questions

Employee Forum – Thursday 3 September, 2pm

• COVID-19 update – Andrew Stripp, Chief Executive
• The COVID code: Unlock your inner wellbeing and resilience, Max Von Sabler, Department of Psychology
• Questions

Visit the events section on the COVID-19 website to learn more.