Covid clinics to close

Bass Coast Health will close its Community Vaccination Clinic and its Covid Testing site in Wonthaggi next week.

The closures are in response to decreasing community demand and in line with other health services across the state, BCH said.

However in good news for Phillip Island residents, a new testing service will operate from the Urgent Care Centre in Cowes from May 16.

Monash Pathology, which is already based at the Hub, will take over the testing service confirmed Bass Coast Health CEO Jan Child.

“They will start to provide Rapid Antigen Tests and PCR tests for people from Monday to Friday.

“Our staff will step out and go back into the regular hospital routine.”

With staff stepping back from the Covid clinic roles, Ms Child hopes the Code Yellow imposed due to staff shortages, will soon be lifted.

Test figures

During the pandemic, Ms Child said BCH ran a comprehensive testing program, with staff conducting 68,554 Covid tests at Wonthaggi, Cowes and at various pop-up sites at Bass and San Remo.

She said there was no doubt the tests were instrumental in helping people isolate quickly and reduce the spread of the disease in the community.

“As part of one of the biggest vaccination efforts in recent history, Bass Coast reached the fifth highest vaccination levels early in the Covid race,” Ms Child said.

“More than 95 per cent of the eligible population in Bass Coast Shire has been vaccinated with two doses.

“Since the Community Vaccination Clinic at the Wonthaggi Town Hall opened in June 2021, staff have administered 46,695 Covid vaccines.”

The last day of the Community Vaccination Clinic at Wonthaggi Town Hall will be Monday, May 16, although BCH personnel finished staffing the clinic on May 7.

Staff from Latrobe Regional Hospital provided walk-in vaccinations on Monday May 9 from 10.30am to 3.30pm and again on May 17 from 10am to 12pm (closed all other days).

Covid testing at the former McBride Campus of Wonthaggi Secondary College will end at 1pm Saturday May 14.

Ms Child said the time is right and it is now time for the health service to focus its resources on core services.

“We are proud of the extensive testing and vaccination services we have offered the community throughout the two years of the pandemic so far,” she said.

“These testing and vaccination efforts have ensured our region had high screening and vaccination rates which significantly reduced community transmission of COVID-19.

“We give credit for the extraordinary testing and vaccination effort by our magnificent staff who have worked so hard to keep our community safe.

“They have been true frontline heroes whose teamwork, along with compassion and excellence, demonstrated everything our values represent.

“These excellent staff are our most valuable asset and we hope many of them will stay with us in other roles.”

Ms Child said the pandemic response had shown that if needed, BCH has proven it can respond quickly to community needs.

“It is extremely important to acknowledge that our ability to transition both these services now, to the primary health sector, is possible because the demand for these services is low.

“Of course, if the Department of Health ever sees a need for state run clinics to bolster the primary care sector again, we will do a call to arms.”

Most importantly, Ms Child said it was still critically important to get tested and to get vaccinated.

“We are not by any means out of this pandemic. We are just coming down from a peak of a significant surge, and sadly, we anticipate others.

“We will always advocate that people take the advice of the experts with regard to vaccination, and keep themselves optimally vaccinated, and we encourage people to test.”

Ms Child thanks the many partners that made the testing and vaccination efforts possible including the Education Department for the use of the former McBride Campus, Shadow Security and Event Ops for their work at the sites, Gippsland Region Public Health Unit for support and guidance and Bass Coast Shire Council for the use of the Town Hall.

Vaccination and testing options

Vaccinations

• Covid vaccinations are available at GP clinics, six Gippsland Respiratory Clinics and participating pharmacies by appointment.

• The Gippsland Region Public Health Unit will continue to ensure the community has access to Covid vaccinations. The mobile Covid vaccination bus will also provide outreach vaccination opportunities throughout the region.
 

Testing

• Wonthaggi Medical Group continue to provide symptomatic testing and treatment at their clinic where appointments are available via their website or on 0429 036 568

• RAT tests will be available from Wonthaggi Hospital from Monday May 16 (details to be confirmed).

• RAT tests are also available at most pharmacists (free for pensioners), at schools for students, as well as select service stations and supermarkets

• RAT and PCR tests will be available from Monash Pathology at the Phillip Island Health Hub, Monday to Friday.