Sick or not, St Basil’s residents are moved out of nursing home
Residents of a Fawkner nursing home that has become overrun by coronavirus have been moved to private hospitals in an attempt to protect them from the deadly outbreak.
Several people have died at the St Basil’s Homes for the Aged, and despite a government takeover of the facility last week, families with loved ones in the centre have complained that they have gone for days without word from the facility, only to find the relatives had been admitted to hospital.
A patient is removed from the St. Basil's Homes for the Aged Care in Victoria in Fawkner on Saturday.Credit:Penny Stephens
On Sunday, doctors at Knox Private Hospital received an email telling them that the Healthscope hospital had agreed to take in 15 residents from St Basil’s, with and without coronavirus, at the request of the Victorian health department.
The email said other private hospitals had also accepted residents.
"There are both COVID-positive and COVID-negative residents among the 15 being transferred to us," wrote the hospital’s general manager Vincent Borg.
"Australia, and Victoria in particular, is facing never-before-seen health challenges as a result of the COVID-19 virus. I hope you appreciate the need for Healthscope to do what it can to help care for those most at need in our community."
A doctor who didn’t wish to be named said they understood all remaining residents were moved out of St Basil’s into private hospitals at the weekend.
The Victorian health department has been contacted for comment.
Clinical waste removalists at the St. Basil's Homes for the Aged Care in Victoria on Saturday.Credit:Penny Stephens
There have been 78 coronavirus cases connected to St Basil's to date. The facility has an operating capacity of 120 residents and a requirement for more than 110 staff.
On Monday morning, Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck acknowledged and apologised for situations where families have spent days trying to ascertain whether their loved ones were still alive.
He said a call centre had been set up to provide daily updates to families.
"We know that people are worried, we want to make sure that they get good information with respect to their loved ones, but it's a very, very complex situation inside."
In one case, Melbourne man Nicholas Barboussas was called and told by management brought in by the government that his father Paul was comfortably sitting in his room, when in fact he was gravely unwell at the Northern Hospital.
Paul Barboussas, 79, was gravely unwell at the Northern Hospital, but his family was told he was comfortably sitting in his room at St Basil's.Credit:Nine News
The 79-year would die the next die from suspected COVID-19.
Mr Colbeck said the aged-care sector, which the federal government is responsible for, had done "exceptionally well" in handling the spread of COVID-19 in Victoria that has now breached 71 facilities.
He also disputed reports of a shortage of masks and gloves in homes and said facilities were required to have infection control plans in place to deal with an outbreak.
The Health Workers Union has previously claimed workers were not properly trained in infection control and lacked adequate PPE.
Mr Colbeck said the federal government was working with Victorian authorities to deploy surge staff and fund homes to ensure they could afford to use only one set of workers, ensuring employees did not work at multiple homes and potentially exacerbate the spread.
"Three weeks ago we had four facilities where we had residents who had recovered from the virus and we were basically waiting for their isolation period to clear before we declared them COVID-free," he said.
"This circumstance has occurred in three weeks. It's purely ... because of community spread and the fact that the virus infects before symptoms arrive, and people are going to work in all sectors, not just age care, when infectious and the virus has spread."