MILDURA Base Hospital (MBH) has finalised a detailed pandemic plan to fine-tune management of any local outbreaks of COVID-19.
Hospitals across Victoria, including MBH, have been working on detailed clinical planning documents to ensure health services are well prepared to deal with outbreaks.
MBH coronavirus response co-ordinator Dr Alison Walker said although the current trends in Australia on COVID-19 were encouraging, hospitals were continuing to refine their readiness.
“Ideally, we won’t need to roll out a lot of these planning elements – but we must be ready and we need to prepare for the significant risk that COVID-19 poses, particularly for elderly and vulnerable community groups,” Dr Walker said.
“Our MBH teams have been very well prepared to deal with an outbreak for a number of weeks, but the finalisation of this document puts a very detailed framework around the process and will continue to guide our response.”
Dr Walker said the plan set down a four-stage hospital response to COVID-19.
The plan contains triggers to reallocate hospital resources efficiently in order to make dedicated coronavirus wards available within the hospital.
“We are currently at the level 2 response, where some impact on the running of the hospital,” she said.
“Anyone suspected of being a COVID-19 patient is streamed to ward 4 until their swab results are known. So far, we have had no positive patients, but anyone with respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath is always treated as potentially having COVID-19.
“Our focus is on containment, which is identifying any possible cases and isolating those who are infectious and their close contacts and the systems we have in place are doing that very efficiently.”
There have been five confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mildura, all of which have been managed within community. There have been no COVID-19 admissions to MBH.
“None of the decisions to reallocate resources are taken lightly and they are proportionate to the threat that we’re presented with,” Dr Walker said.
“But we have responded quickly to protect our community and the planning we have done will allow a continued and appropriate response to be put into action as the situation changes.
“For now, though, it is just so important that people keep doing the things that have been working for us – staying at home and practising good hygiene.
“That will become even more important as we move forward and people start to resume some everyday activities that have been off the agenda for a while.”
