July 25, 2022 Published by Jake Lynch

For every Australian, the two and a half years since COVID hit has been difficult, perhaps traumatic, definitely challenging.

For those of us that work in health care, well, it’s been nothing short of seismic.

For Australia to respond to the global pandemic and avoid the rates of hospitalisation and death that many other countries experienced, our healthcare workers in every area were challenged to rise to the occasion.

The expectation was that they display levels of flexibility, innovation and fortitude rarely asked of workers in any sector, ever.

It was remarkable to behold.

Here at Bairnsdale Medical Group we were very proud to have been able to play our role in keeping this community safe and minimising the impacts of COVID as much as possible.

It was back in the very early days of the pandemic that the federal government tasked BMG, and other clinics like us all around Australia, with the responsibility of hosting local COVID testing and, later, vaccination clinics.

Setting up and running what would become the Bairnsdale Respiratory Clinic seemed like a massive ask at the time.

We knew it would stretch our already stretched resources, and demand an effort of our staff that was above and beyond the normal call of duty.

But rise to the occasion they did.

Working at the Respiratory Clinic was a tough gig – long hours in full PPE, and dealing with many frustrated and sometimes abusive community members.

But time and time again BMG staff, and our friends and partners at BRHS, Macleod Street Medical and East Gippsland Shire, put their hands up to make sure the clinic remained open and served as many people as possible.

For us here at BMG, we were very proud of what we were able to do at the Respiratory Clinic, responding quickly in uncertain and scary times to meet the needs of the community.

(But let’s hope it’s not required for too much longer, okay?)