Adapting to the new COVID-19 normal
The pandemic and rolling lock downs continued to impact the way we worked and delivered services to our diverse community . The safety of our workforce and clients remained our top priority .
Merri Health CEO with doctor and nurses at COVID vaccine hub
OUR PERFORMANCE
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Our COVID Taskforce and Response Team continued to meet regularly and oversaw our established Pandemic Plan , managing risks to ensure we operated without outbreaks or major incidents .
The ‘ new COVID-normal ’ challenged us to be more flexible and innovative in our thinking and service offerings to respond to changing needs and restrictions . We expanded our services , stepped up COVID vaccination education / delivery and redeployed staff to where they were needed most .
We successfully embedded remote and hybrid work arrangements along with telehealth , face-to-face and hybrid delivery models for most services . These will continue to shape our workplace and service models in the future . Telehealth enabled us to service communities outside our regular areas and be more flexible with who we supported .
COVID restrictions impacted delivery of many in-person services and programs in 2021 including non-emergency dental , social groups and our Merri Mates disability volunteer service .
The ‘ new COVID-normal ’ challenged us to be more flexible and innovative in our thinking and service offerings to respond to changing needs and restrictions . We expanded our services , stepped up COVID vaccination education / delivery and redeployed staff to where they were needed most .
Re-introducing these services safely was a focus in 2022 .
The pandemic impacts on our people , operations and services , and our response to safeguard consistent , high-quality outcomes are detailed throughout this report .