Protecting residents from potentially at-risk staff has been one of the major challenges of the COVID-19 crisis.
This is why Ryman Healthcare, which operates two retirement villages with aged care centres in Melbourne’s southeast, has invited at-risk staff to move in.
The idea is to decrease the risk of bringing the virus inside the village, while the rate of community transmission outside the village is so high.
Ryman’s regional manager Eileen Kietly said more than a dozen staff members at the Nellie Melba and Weary Dunlop villages had already taken up the offer.
“Keeping our staff safe is absolutely crucial to keeping our residents safe, so this just makes sense. No measure is too extreme or too expensive when it comes to resident safety,” she said.
Kietly acknowledged this represents a “huge commitment” from staff, and Kietly says this shows just how much they care about the safety of their residents.
“From the very outset of COVID-19 our goal has been to make our villages safe havens for our residents and staff, and that’s guided everything we do,” Ms Kietly said.
The move even got a nod from Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton.
“Having staff (living) onsite is absolutely an innovation to the extent that it limits their interaction with other community members,” Prof Sutton said.
We love solutions that think outside the box, so you have to hand it to the operators and staff here.
