From the CEO

It is finally Spring. There are signs of new life everywhere in our villages: bulbs emerging through the winter soil, birds nesting and trees waking up. It has been a very difficult winter for us all locked up in our homes as we endeavour to beat the pandemic.

For all of us, I am sure there have been times when there seemed to be no end in sight. We are all longing to see each other smile and spend time together. Yet I am always delighted to hear stories of how everyone is keeping themselves busy and coming up with new ideas to connect, laugh and live.

As you will read in this newsletter, Rushall Park Lou Anderson has initiated a wonderful idea which involves all our villages. Each resident is invited to send in their own piece of creativity which, combined, will provide an extraordinary insight into life during coronavirus. The plan is to add all contributions to our already rich archive and tour each village. I look forward to seeing the results.

Our staff, too, have been working hard on all fronts from preparing frozen meals to be used in cases of emergencies in the months to come through to starting work on the latest upgrades to our units in Currie Park and our heritage homes in Rushall Park. It is a careful balancing act as we wade through the many restrictions in place .

The aged care situation in Victoria has been alarming, to say the least, and we have made our views known in a submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Safety and Quality Control.

As you know we had our own lockdown at Liscombe House. Our extraordinary planning ahead of the lockdown, attention to detail, the many hours of infection control and PPE training, and quality control measures all paid off, and I offer my sincerest thanks to our Liscombe House team; they are all heroes. I also thank our residents for their patience, quiet humour and resilience during lockdown, and extend appreciation to our families. The messages of thanks and support have made a very real difference to the morale of everyone.

At the end of this year, we will be saddened to see Shaaron Robilliard, our Director of Nursing, retire after twenty years with us. Words cannot even begin to describe the contribution she has made to Liscombe House and to the Old Colonists’ Association of Victoria. When I asked her what her retirement intentions were, she said without hesitation: “I am going to sit quietly for a very long time.” We shall see.

We are all keeping our hopes up that the Rushall Park apartments win a world architecture award in November. You will read more in this newsletter, but suffice to say, the fact that the apartments have been chosen as finalists from a distinguished list of other affordable housing examples is reason to be cheerful.

Take care, keep safe, and keep washing those hands and masking up.

Phillip Wohlers

CEO