By Alesha Capone
A senior official has said that Werribee Mercy Hospital could have been “brought to its knees” during the Covid-19 pandemic, if it were not for the efforts of “heroic” frontline staff.
Mercy Health Group chief executive, Adjunct Professor Stephen Cornelissen, made the comment last week, after a series of tribute videos produced by Catholic Health Australia were released to thank Catholic health and aged care workers for their work during the pandemic.
Adjunct Professor Cornelissen said that as the height of the pandemic, across a fortnight, both Werribee Mercy Hospital and the Wyndham community “was in a precarious situation”.
“At its height the second wave of this terrible pandemic added extraordinary pressure and danger to the work of our Werribee staff,” he said.
“The numbers of patients testing positive, compounded by the numbers of staff in contact with those cases threatened to furlough so many staff that the hospital could have been faced with the need to shut its doors.
“Werribee Mercy Hospital operates in the fastest growing local area in Victoria and it was one of Victoria’s most serious COVID-19 hotspots – our hospital would have been brought to its knees, other than for the heroic efforts of our staff.”
“While the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other infection control practices have been critical tools for Mercy Health in keeping the virus at bay, we know there can be no absolute guarantees that workers are 100 per cent insulated from this insidious virus.
“Our team’s bravery and the support of their families who watched workers return to work each day can never be understated or permitted to be forgotten.”
Adjunct Professor Cornelissen said it was also important for the general public not to become complacent with hygiene practices and virus testing.
Wyndham recorded 14 active cases of Covid-19 today, compared to 18 active cases last Monday.
