Pandemic Code Brown – Stood down from midday, Monday 14 February 2022

Pandemic Code Brown – stood down from midday, Monday 14 February 2022

Monash Health has stood down our Pandemic Code Brown, effective midday, Monday 14 February 2022. 

A co-ordinated Code Brown was implemented across all public metropolitan, and major regional hospitals in response to rising hospitalisations and staff shortages associated with COVID-19. It sent a strong message to the community that our health system was under pressure and supported decisions about how to best use our emergency response for those with the greatest need.

Pleasingly, COVID-19 hospitalisations in Victoria are trending downwards, and we have not seen the increase in numbers we were preparing to face.

In a similar way that the commencement of the Code Brown didn’t mean there were major changes overnight, the cessation doesn’t mean that things will immediately return to pre-COVID normal. The looming crisis has settled, but we are still under extraordinary pressure.

We continue to make alterations to our model of care to bring services back online. This will be done in a considered manner. As we have many team members providing support outside their normal area of operation, we must ensure the areas they are currently supporting can continue operations.

I want to thank you for your professionalism, flexibility and support for each other during this time. I know this has been a challenging time, particularly for those eager to provide care in their usual speciality, but you have risen to the task, as you have so many times in the past two years.

Thank you.

Andrew Stripp
Chief Executive