Celebrating Aged Care Employee Day

Celebrated annually on 7 August, Aged Care Employee Day is an occasion to acknowledge and honour everyone who works in the aged care sector, whether they are employed on the frontline as a carer or nurse, or behind the scenes supporting older people indirectly.

Today, there are more than 360,000 people who care for and support around 1.3 million older people who receive aged care services across Australia.

COVID-19 vaccination update

Over the past few months, BlueCross continues to place great priority in getting all consenting residents and staff vaccinated against COVID-19. We are pleased to advise that to date, 85% (over 2,000) of residents are fully vaccinated while 89% have received their first dose of the vaccine.

Robert Putamorsi Chief Executive Officer

The rollout of vaccinations for staff is progressing well. At the time of writing, more than 2,600 staff have received at least one dose, with nearly 1,800 being fully vaccinated. We are continuing our program of vaccinating staff on-site at the residences.

The past 18 months have been a particularly challenging time for aged care workers, both in residential and home care services.

“Our clients and residents have at times been unable to enjoy visits from their loved ones due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has often fallen upon our aged care workforce to make up for that loss of family contact and become the crucial connection for frail and vulnerable older people,” said BlueCross CEO, Robert Putamorsi.

“Our amazing staff – from carers to nurses, allied health professionals, hospitality teams, drivers, cleaners, volunteers, lifestyle officers, administration staff and many others – have often gone above and beyond their call of duty to support our residents and clients when the need arises during these unprecedented times,” he said. To mark this year’s celebrations, BlueCross rolled out a number of initiatives to honour its staff including personalised thank you cards, videos and local site events. BlueCross is supported by a team of dedicated staff who care for more than 2,500 residents and over 1,000 home care clients throughout Victoria.

(see special staff feature on page 6)