COVID Clinic turns one

25 Mar 2021

St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals CEO Michael Hogan said the COVID Clinic has undertaken more than 33,600 swabs over the past 12 months.

“Our busiest day was on 1 February 2021, the first day of Perth’s second lockdown, in which 1,163 swabs were undertaken,” he said.

“When we first established the clinic, we had no idea how long it would remain open. We just knew that it was important we rapidly opened the clinic to assist the community and help manage the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Now here we are 12 months later operating both a COVID Clinic as well as a COVID Vaccination Clinic and, thankfully, there has been little community spread in Perth.”

The COVID Vaccination Clinic, which opened on 8 March 2021, is only available for front-line and emergency workers and bookings are essential.

“I would like to thank everyone who had been involved in the running of the COVID Clinic over the past 12 months, including our nurses, security, administration support and cleaners,” Michael said.

“Everyone has done an outstanding job to support patients at our COVID Clinic and I thank them for their efforts.”

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the hospital has treated six COVID positive patients, including three passengers from the Artania cruise ship. 

All the COVID positive patients were believed to have been infected with COVID-19 whilst travelling overseas and have since recovered from the disease.

“All our caregivers have been outstanding in caring for patients during the pandemic and adapting to changes in our services,” Michael said.

“It has been a real team effort by everyone working at the hospital, across all roles and departments.”

For more information on the COVID Clinic and hospital, see sjog.org.au/midland