Tara Murray
More than 200 people with COVID-19 were admitted to Sunshine Hospital last year, according to a state government report.
Victorian Health Services data, released last month, also compared the number of coronavirus cases acquired in select hospitals between January 25 and November 15, 2020.
Of the hospitals surveyed, Sunshine hospital had 230 people admitted with community acquired COVID-19, the second highest in the state.
Royal Melbourne Hospital’s City campus, had 243 community-acquired cases in the same timeframe.
The report found that overall, 2492 people were hospitalised with COVID-19 in Victoria between January 25 and November 15 last year.
More than 4166 hospital staff were infected with the virus.
There were 54 patients admitted to Sunshine Hospital from aged care facilities, which was fifth-highest of the hospitals listed.
The report found that six people caught COVID-19 while at Sunshine Hospital, while a further two had been diagnosed post-discharge which was attributed to the hospital.
At Western Health’s Hazeldean Transition Care in Williamstown there were 19 cases of hospital-acquired infection and 15 at Footscray Hospital.
Overall, 30 hospitals were identified as having patients with hospital-acquired infections with a median of two cases per hospital.
The report showed that most of the hospital-acquired cases occurred in hospitals within Melbourne’s north-west region, reflecting areas of highest community virus prevalence.
There have been 2037 COVID-19 cases in Brimbank since the pandemic started, only second behind Wyndham which has had 2253 cases.
The report was commissioned by the state government and key stakeholders to better understand COVID-19 transmission in Victorian hospitals.
It found that overall, effective infection prevention and control policies and practices are in place across Victorian health services.
“Valuable lessons have been learnt from the COVID-19 experience that will continue to strengthen systems and preparedness for future epidemics, improving safety and outcomes for patients, staff and the Victorian community,” it states.
