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Original adjournment matter from Juliana Addison MP to Parliament –

I direct my adjournment matter to the Minister for Health.

The action that I seek is for him to visit my electorate of Wendouree to meet with Ballarat Health Services and Ballarat Community Health to thank our outstanding health workforce for the excellent job they did managing the COVID pandemic.

Ballarat has an amazing healthcare workforce who cared for the 59 people in our community who had COVID and stopped the spread in our region. As a result of their great work we have recorded zero deaths. Our healthcare workers are truly world class and deserve the highest praise and recognition.

I would particularly like the Minister for Health to meet with Ballarat Health Services’s COVID rapid response team and the contact-tracing team. The rapid response team, a partnership between Ballarat Health Services and Ballarat Community Health, is to be praised for the work it did in Shepparton following their outbreak and also in Nhill.

I would also like the minister to visit Ballarat Health Services’s COVID ward to thank frontline workers who directly delivered care to others while putting their own health and wellbeing at risk. I would also be pleased to show the minister the new ICU ventilators.

It would also be a great opportunity to meet with Ballarat Community Health’s rapid response team, who established the Little Bridge Street COVID testing clinic in central Ballarat, as well as the high-risk accommodation response team. The COVID testing clinic operated from 18 July to 9 October and completed 4960 tests.

I am very proud of the excellent care provided by Ballarat healthcare professionals and the strong leadership they have provided our community throughout this challenging 2020.

I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the entire Ballarat community for their efforts and for all they have sacrificed to stay safe and stop the spread of COVID. I look forward to the Minister for Health’s response and welcoming him to my electorate of Wendouree.

Response from Martin Foley MP, Minister for Health & Minister for Ambulance Services (20th August 2021) –

I thank Ms Addison for the invitation to visit her electorate of Wendouree. I would like to acknowledge the COVID response efforts of health care workers from Ballarat Health Services and Ballarat Community Health and thank them for their dedication and hard work.   The partnerships forged between health services like that of Ballarat Community Health and Ballarat Health Services, and the establishment of regional teams across our health system has provided a robust structure to manage our COVID response and ensure the safety of all Victorians.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit Ballarat Health Services to meet with the CEO and Board Chair and hope to visit again when it is safe to do so. I saw first-hand the COVID safe practice at the local hospital and thank the executive team for their leadership particularly during this difficult I look forward to visiting the electorate of Wendouree in the future and the opportunity to acknowledge the work of our health care staff.