St George Hospital staff feel the love

St George Hospital has treated many COVID positive patients since the start of the recent COVID-19 Delta outbreak in Sydney and the hard work done to take care of these patients has not gone unnoticed.

The 'Adopt a Healthcare Worker - St George Hospital' Facebook page, created last year by Sandy Grekas, a Councillor for Georges River Council, has received great support from the community wanting to show their appreciation of our staff by donating to the hospital.

Lauren Sturgess, Acting Director of Nursing and Midwifery at St George Hospital, was incredibly grateful Sandy reached out to establish the most appropriate items to donate – wanting to deliver items that would make a real difference to staff as they work hard to keep our community safe.

"It means so much to our staff to know our community appreciate their hard work and are behind us during this busy and difficult time," Ms Sturges said.

The Nursing Executive Team have also stocked up tea rooms in 'hot areas', purchasing a range of appliances and food when setting up the hospital’s COVID-19 ward.

"Staff working in the 'hot areas' need to stay within their work area for their entire shift, so we wanted to ensure they had access to coffee, snacks and meals as well as items to support their mental health and wellbeing like puzzles and games," Ms Sturgess said.

The hospital has also received donations of care packages for patients on the COVID-19 ward, who are not able to have visitors. The Resurrection of Christ, Our lady of Myrtles and St Elesa Greek Orthodox Church created wellness packs that included crossword puzzles, pens, sanitary items and chargers for mobile phones. The packs were distributed by the Social Work team, who also contributed items for the patients to enjoy.

Paul Darcy, General Manager, St George Hospital, extended his thanks to all staff.

"This has been a stressful and challenging time for everyone and I want to thank all staff for their professionalism and continued focus on the safety and wellbeing of our patients," Mr Darcy said.

Pictured: Staff from St George Hospital’s COVID-19 Assessment Clinic with some of the donations received, thanks to the Adopt a Healthcare Worker group.