Update #103
Good afternoon family and friends,
I hope you had a lovely Easter long weekend and enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather.
We know that residents and families also enjoyed their visit on Easter Sunday, and we thank the volunteers who attended to concierge duties and allowed these visits to go ahead.
We have some significant events coming up for the Maroba family and community, and I would like to advise arrangements for these periods.
- Anzac Day is Monday 25 April and as usual we will have a service at Maroba for residents. With the day anticipated to bring the rain, this service is now moved inside and as such we are only able to invite the families of those residents who are veterans. If you are one of those family members and would like to come, please ring Reception on 4935 0300 to advise your attendance. A friendly reminder too, to bring your loved one’s medals if they are not kept on site.
As Anzac Day is a Public Holiday, we are not able to support general visiting on this day. General visiting will re-commence on Tuesday 26 April at 10am.
- Mother’s Day is Sunday 8 May, another important day in the calendar. We are planning to open for visitors with two time slots: 10am and 3pm, the same arrangement as Easter Sunday. This will of course depend on whether we are able to recruit volunteers to attend to concierge duties. Social Leave is still available, and if you are planning on taking Mum out we ask you to complete the Excursion Form by Wednesday 4 May to enable us to plan our rosters.
If you would like to bring a gift, we encourage these to be dropped off during the week in case there is an extension of our outbreak and we are not able to facilitate visitation. - Vaccination clinic is tomorrow, Friday 22 April. All consenting eligible residents and staff will be administered their vaccine for covid and influenza. It will be another busy day for Maroba. We are also pleased to report that all staff have received their 3rd mandated booster for covid and hence we are compliant.
As expected, the local covid numbers have increased substantially since the Easter break. Please do not be complacent when out and about the community. Covid is a serious disease for the older person and those with underlying health conditions.
I would like to remind everyone that there is an obligation on the excursion form to follow the directives of the Public Health Order. Please remember to practice good hand hygiene, social distancing and although masks are not compulsory in most settings, I encourage everyone to wear their mask when in crowds and when social distancing cannot be maintained. As we enter the cooler months and an expected higher flu season please practice these basic infection control protocols.
On another note, have you seen this week’s Newcastle Weekly? We have Ken McKenzie on the front cover and a lovely article and photo of the 3 gents: Ken McKenzie, Alf Carpenter and Ziggy Gnojek about our Poppy Project. You can find the article on-line – copy and paste the following link into your browser.
https://newcastleweekly.com.au/waratahs-war-veterans-share-importance-of-anzac-day/
That’s it from me today.
Stay safe and stay well.
Yours sincerely
Viv Allanson
CEO