Throughout the pandemic, we have continued to support our teams of over 22,000 people who have worked tirelessly to deliver outstanding care for our community.
One of the ways we have demonstrated our thanks is through the Be Well Be Safe Program, which is providing increased health and wellbeing initiatives for our healthcare workers. As we settle into the second half of the year, we are taking a moment to reflect on the first seven months of the Be Well Be Safe Program and the success of the initiatives implemented to date.
Understanding that the past two years had been immensely challenging for our teams, in January we started the Program with a focus on team wellbeing, and introducing new healthy habits to help you, your colleagues and your loves ones to prioritise your health and wellbeing.
- We introduced the Be Well Program, a confidential service to support team wellbeing facilitated by our own psychologists providing regular team check‐ins, support following a critical event and learning strategies to promote mentally healthy teams.
- Healthwise Fitness, our on-site employee gym at Monash Medical Centre offered half-price gym memberships for our employees to help support you to achieve your health and fitness goals. The offer has been extended to 30 September 2022.
- In March, we launched the Healthy Body and Mind Hub an online learning platform offering health and wellness resources to help you reach your wellbeing goals by providing you with increased wellbeing education, resources, and motivation.
- We hosted a Walking Challenge in March, for all employees, their families and friends to join, an opportunity to get moving, work towards 10,000 per day and connect with colleagues and loved ones. This year we hosted a record 800 participants!
- To commemorate World Oral Health Day, our dental services team ran an employee drive-through dental clinic. Utilising the COVID-19 screening model, the clinic offered employees dental screening and oral health advice from the convenience of their car.
As we continued to say thank you to our employees for supporting the healthcare goals of our community and the entire state, we offered a range of complimentary food and beverages to encourage you to take a break and enjoy.
- For our employees working in high-risk areas, we have provided over 100,000 ‘heat and eat’ meals and almost 50,000 cups of coffee from local-area barista-grade coffee machines, alongside a variety of snacks and treats.
- Since February, we have surprised our employees by handing out smoothies at the entrances across over 35 of our sites. As a rolling initiative, we handed out over 20,000 smoothies to our employees!
- Of all the initiatives implemented, perhaps none have been quite as popular as our coffee week in March, which saw over 25,000 drinks claimed across our major sites. The following week, coffee vans also visited some of our community sites offering coffee.
- Following repeated employee requests at our weekly employee forums, as a gesture of fun and as a treat, in May we offered ice cream at our community locations and almost 10,000 potato cakes at our major sites.
As the Program got well underway, we introduced additional initiatives to help bring some joy and delight to our employees.
- In February, we hosted a Paws the Pressure, virtual therapy dog session to encourage our employees and teams to schedule some time in their day to enjoy the puppy antics of therapy dogs.
- Our music therapists commenced playing the grand piano at MMC and environmental music in some of our wards, helping enhance the auditory environment of our workplace and offering our employees, patients, and visitors a moment to pause and listen.
- Massage therapists provided 5-minute chair-based massages to employees across many of our sites, to help our employees to relieve some tension.
We understand that none of these initiatives alone are in any way reflective of our appreciation of all the remarkable work and care that our teams have provided in exceptional circumstances over the last two and a half years.
It is our hope that the Be Well Be Safe Program, which will continue throughout 2022, goes some way in showing our appreciation for our incredible teams.
In July, we launched our Stronger Together Wellbeing Grants program and look forward to seeing the different activities teams implement in their areas. Applications are now open and close Friday, 26 August – don’t miss out!
We continue to prioritise the wellbeing of all our employees, and have a number of ongoing initiatives, resources and support services available to help you. Keep an eye out on the Intranet for all the latest health and wellbeing updates.
You truly are the heart of all that we do, and for that we continue to say thank you.
Approved by Karen Lowe.