Earlier this week we farewelled our colleagues from Eastern Health who had been supporting Kirkbrae during the COVID-19 outbreak at the facility and through the recovery phase. The support provided by Eastern Health over the past 11 weeks was significant and helped us come through an extremely difficult time. All of us at Kirkbrae are extremely thankful to the Eastern Health team for all they contributed while they were on site.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission continues to monitor our progress following the outbreak. Earlier this week the Commission removed the restriction on the admission of new residents to Kirkbrae. This is another significant step on the recovery path for us.
The visiting guidelines published previously remain in place until there is any further change announced by the Victorian State Government. Relatives wishing to visit residents should call Kirkbrae Reception during business hours to make a booking to visit the facility.
This week we welcomed a new Lifestyle Supervisor to Kirkbrae. In her first week she has been very busy engaging with our residents and ensuring that they have access to a wide range of activities. It has been wonderful to see some of our residents in the garden enjoying the sunshine.
It is a tradition at Kirkbrae to hold a memorial service to commemorate the lives of those residents who have passed away. Unfortunately, the current restrictions do not enable us to hold a service on site at the present time. We are investigating the possibility of holding a “virtual service” in the near future and will keep our community updated as these plans progress.
Finally we would like to sincerely thank all our staff for their steadfast support and loyalty over the past few months during what can only be described as very testing and often confronting times at Kirkbrae .The commitment shown by our staff and contractors to our mission had been outstanding.
We thank all our residents, their families and the broader community for their patience and their ongoing support of Kirkbrae.
Rev Grant Lawry
Convener
Social Services Committee
John Fogarty
Acting Chief Executive Officer
