A hospital spokesperson said spikes in COVID-19 and influenza infections among staff had put some strain on its workforce.
“Like all hospitals in Australia, and our public counterparts in regional Victoria, we are experiencing workforce challenges which have been exacerbated by high levels of staff furloughing given the recent spike in local COVID-19 transmission and the onset of the winter flu season,” a hospital spokesperson said through a statement.
The hospital did not say what services, if any, had been interrupted so far by the workforce challenges.
“We are working very hard to ensure there is minimal impact on our patients and continue to accept admissions across all service lines, including medical, surgical, oncology, rehabilitation and mental health services,’’ the spokesperson said.
“Regrettably, in the short-term, there may be times where we need to defer non-urgent admissions to ensure those requiring urgent care in our community are prioritised.”
The spokesperson said the owner and operator of the hospital, Ramsay Health Care, was implementing a range of strategies aimed at building its regional workforce, including bringing in staff from metropolitan areas to temporarily work in Shepparton.
“We have been concentrating on growing our own workforce with large increases in graduate numbers across the company as well as looking at reskilling and retaining,” the spokesperson said.
“We are very fortunate that staff from some of our other hospitals in Melbourne are currently supporting Shepparton Private, lending some additional support in the short term.”
Patients with any concerns are urged to contact the hospital or their treating doctor for more information.
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