An unspecified number of COVID patients are being transferred to Wollongong Hospital from Sydney hospitals which are stretched to the limit.
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Codenamed Operation Wollongong Assist, the support mission is being led by former Defence Force personnel and current Wollongong Hospital specialists Dr Trevor Gardner and Dr Bruce Ashford.
All aspects of the operation to transfer patients to Wollongong's dedicated COVID ward and intensive care units are being overseen by the district's COVID taskforce which was established at the start of the pandemic.
NSW recorded 319 locally acquired cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday night and five deaths. There were 262 cases, and one death, in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday. There were no new cases recorded in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD) in the 48-hour period.
Dr Gardner said with more than 360 COVID positive cases currently in hospitals across greater Sydney, the Wollongong operation had been launched in support of neighbouring communities.
He said Wollongong Hospital had significantly enhanced its COVID capacity over the past 18 months with new infrastructure, equipment and critical care workforce.
There were very strict infection control protocols in place for caring for COVID-19 patients, and all staff members working in high-risk areas including COVID-19 wards and ICU were fully vaccinated and trained in the mandated use of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).
"We are very ready, our COVID ward, our emergency department and intensive care unit, are very capable, we've done this before, we've improved safety even since then again for our staff, we're now vaccinated," he said.
"The idea that we would not use our excess capacity to decant from another local health district and assist those people would be unconscionable.
"We're just lucky that we are not asking to move patients somewhere else, it could easily be us that has become overwhelmed."
Dr Gardner moved to allay community concern about the transfer of patients from Sydney's hot spots.
"There might be some concerns that we're bringing COVID into the hospital from elsewhere and that puts us at risk - it doesn't at all in so far as if the person came from down the road it would be the same disease process in an Australian citizen who needed care," he said.
"Our systems in place are as good as you're going to find in this country with respect to our capability and training. I would reassure people - we're in a COVID pandemic, our hospital has been dealing with it for over a year, it's not going to go away ever.
"The pandemic will settle with vaccination in time but COVID will always be here and this hospital will always deal with COVID patients - that is our new norm.
"Fortunately for us we don't have a large burden, but we do have excellent capacity at the moment."
Dr Gardner said the community could be assured that this support to Sydney hospitals would not impact local access to services or facilities.
He said it would also not impact on government decision in regards to restrictions, or lockdowns, in the Wollongong area.
"It doesn't change what happens to the community," he said. "The patient on the street getting COVID, the people infectious while in the community, is how the government decides what the level of restrictions we should have.
"If no patients are presenting with COVID in our community, then the government will react to that. The fact we might bring patients in from another local health service by ambulance to look after them has nothing to do with the state of lockdown in this area health service."
The decision to support Sydney LHDs has also been led by ISLHD management. Chief executive Margot Mains said due to the work undertaken over the last 18 months, Wollongong Hospital was "in the strongest position to care for COVID-19 patients from within our district, and beyond".
"NSW is fortunate to have a highly networked health system, enabling local health districts to work in close collaboration and the transfer of patients to specialised care units routinely occurs," she said.
"We are all incredibly passionate about ensuring resources are utilised by people who need them most right now, regardless of their address. We also know that should our community find itself in need of similar support, our neighbouring LHDs would reciprocate."
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