By Alesha Capone
A community health provider in the west has conducted more than 65,000 COVID-19 tests since last May.
IPC Health has a super clinic in Wyndham Vale, plus bases in Hoppers Crossing, Altona Meadows, Sunshine, Deer Park and St Albans.
It operates COVID testing sites at its Deer Park and Wyndham Vale hubs, plus in Tarneit and Sunshine West.
IPC chief executive Jayne Nelson said that at the beginning of the pandemic, IPC Health worked with Western Health to send teams to workplaces affected by the virus, such as meat processors and schools.
Ms Nelson said more recently, staff have been testing airline crews at Melbourne Airport, international arrivals attending the Australian Open and workers in quarantine hotels.
She said staff from IPC Health worked seven-days-a-week along with staff from five other community health organisations, as part of a COVID-19 Rapid Response Team.
“We are responding to calls from the government as soon as there is an outbreak,” she said.
“We send out teams to test direct contacts of that (infected) person.”
Since August, the Rapid Response Team has tested more than 36,000 people.
Ms Nelson said staff have “safety protocols down pat” and that no employees have contracted the virus.
“We also have smaller teams offering a mobilised service, made up of one or two people – such as a clinician and an administrative officer – who work with people like those in the culturally and linguistically diverse community and asylum seekers,” Ms Nelson said.
She said IPC Health’s Community Engagement Team, made up of bi-cultural workers, helped give vulnerable community members “a safe place” where they felt comfortable to get a test.
“We also connect with community leaders when communicating information about the virus,” she said.
“I think our staff are doing a fantastic job.”
Ms Nelson said she hoped community health providers would be involved in the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccination across Australia next month.
“Community health is very well-placed, we’ve got resources readily available and speak languages of people in the community,” she said.
