12 April 2020
Dear Aberlea community,
I write to provide you an update of the current measures in place at Aberlea to protect our home from COVID-19.
As you are all no doubt aware, we are currently facilitating restricted visitation to Aberlea. These restricted visitation guidelines are mandated by the Victorian Government through the direction of the Deputy Chief Health Officer. In short, each resident is currently allowed one brief care and support visit per day. Our preferred visiting hours are 2pm-4pm daily. All visitors to Aberlea are currently being screened in line with the Government guidelines (attached).
Further, from 1 May 2020 you will be unable to enter Aberlea without providing evidence of your current 2020 Influenza vaccination. I encourage you all to have this vaccination as soon as is practical. The Aberlea staff immunization program will be conducted as soon as the appropriate vaccine is available and hopefully within the coming week.
Since I last wrote to you, I am happy to report that our activities program has been significantly enhanced to make up for reduced visitation and to allow for social distancing to be practiced. Our program has become individually focused and is now being provided seven days a week.
We have also had a number or residents receive ‘virtual visits’ and I would encourage family and friends to utilise this facility, particularly with children now spending a prolonged period at home.
There are three ways in which to access virtual visits:
- Facebook Messenger – Add “Aberlea Connect” as a friend.
- FaceTime – For iPads/iPhones: add mortlakecomm@gmail.com as a contact to your device.
- WhatsApp – Ph No. 0427 055394
Our Resident Liaison Officer Debi McAuliffe will assist residents with the technical side of making or receiving these calls. Please contact Debi on 0475055394 if you would like to book a time for her to facilitate a video call for your loved one.
At this stage, we can assist residents make face-to-face video calls during these times:
- Tuesdays: 6pm-8pm
- Thursdays: 6pm-8pm and
- Saturdays: 10am-12noon Or other times as organised.
The situation is evolving daily, and we are constantly adjusting these measures to align with best practice and Government mandates. As such I will continue to keep you all updated as and when we need to adjust the above procedures.
Thank you all again for helping us to reduce the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak, but most importantly for minimising the effect these measures are having on our residents in their home. These are stressful and unchartered times for us all, particularly our elders. However, if we all work together through this time, I am confident we will provide the best outcomes for all.
If you would like to discuss any or all of the above measures please contact me directly on 0455772578 or Phil Irvine Director of Care on 0447826563.
Please enjoy a happy and safe Easter
Kind Regards,
David Knight
Chief Executive Officer
Please click on this image to open a five-page fact sheet.
Leave a Reply