Sunshine Coast Health remains ready to provide care to the community throughout the predicted severe weather event as a result of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The Executive and Disaster Management teams have been monitoring the situation closely, and collaborating with local, state, federal and other agencies.
Sunshine Coast Health Chief Executive Dr Peter Gillies said the health service’s main priority is staff and patient safety.
“I’d like to reassure our patients and our communities that our staff are well prepared for emergencies, it’s something we obviously deal with regularly in Queensland and we have very committed staff who will be there and continue to care for our patients through this weather event,” he said.
Emergency care
Dr Gillies said critical services will continue to function throughout this period, including emergency surgery and the emergency departments.
“I’d also like to remind people if you have a less urgent condition not to come straight into the emergency department and instead call 13 HEALTH and you will be given some guidance on the most appropriate way of accessing care,” Dr Gillies said.
If you’re unsure if you need to attend an emergency department for care, call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84). Registered nurses are available 24 hours a day. In an emergency phone Triple Zero (000).
Planned care and Elective surgery
Sunshine Coast Health is currently identifying non-urgent surgery, outpatient and oral health appointments planned for Thursday and Friday to look at telehealth options or other arrangements.
“Teams are working to notify these patients directly of any changes ahead of the predicted severe weather event from Tropical Cyclone Alfred,” Dr Gillies said.
Patient care
The health service is also working with clinicians to identify and contact vulnerable patients who may require additional assistance. This includes working with Queensland Ambulance Service, Queensland Police Service, councils and other stakeholders to provide support including transport, essential healthcare and medications.
“All high-risk patients, including those requiring dialysis, those on oxygen, and pregnant mothers that are near term will either be brought into hospital or provided accommodation close to our hospitals to ensure they can access care if needed,” Dr Gillies said.
All inpatients at Sunshine Coast Health facilities who are able to be safely returned to their homes have been, or will be, discharged from hospital.
“I’d also like to reassure patients and our community that we have good backups so if Cyclone Alfred does cause outages of power and water, we have emergency generators and alternate water supplies so we will be able to keep looking after our patients,” Dr Gillies said.
Staffing levels
Staffing levels have been assessed across the health service, and people have been deployed to where they’re needed most.
“In the event that the region is severely impacted by Tropical Cyclone Alfred, some of our staff may become isolated and cut off due to flooded roads,” Dr Gillies said.
“We are redeploying staff to the various facilities in our health service to ensure we can continue to provide essential and emergency care.
“I would like to thank our dedicated health staff for their hard work in maintaining our health care services and ensuring our patients are cared for during this significant weather event.”
Further information
All the latest information regarding our services and facilities will be available on our Tropical Cyclone Alfred page.
Regularly monitoring Sunshine Coast Council's Disaster Hub will keep you updated on power outages, road closures, school closures and other warnings.
State Emergency Service (SES) Queensland website has information on disaster preparedness and can be contacted for storm and flood assistance on 132 500.