Back in excellent hands
A familiar face is again at the helm of St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba’s excellent team
ROOTED in a vibrant history of patient care and charitable spirit, St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba goes the extra mile for its residents.
Back in 1838, while New South Wales was still a fledgling colony, five Sisters of Charity arrived from Ireland and began a legacy that still grows in strength to this day.
Previously known as Lourdes, St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba forms part of St Vincent’s Health Australia and is founded on the policy of the Sisters of Charity; accepting people of any religious denomination, race, colour or creed.
Being part of the St Vincent’s Health Australia family, means St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba is managed in accordance with four core values — excellence, integrity, justice and compassion.
“We are very much a mission and values based organisation,” the new facility manager, Elzette Lategan, said.
Having worked at St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba in the past, Elzette is no stranger to the high standards set for aged care and relishes the opportunity to take the facility into a bright new future.
With extensive experience in aged care — gained over 29 years in various aged care management roles — St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba could not be in better hands than Elzette’s.
Not only is she now the facility manager for St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba, but she is also temporarily maintaining her role as general manager of St Vincent’s Care Services New South Wales.
She has lived in Toowoomba since 2001 and, with two children and a grandchild living in town as well, Elzette said she is here to stay.
She was welcomed back by a great team of caring people eager to assist their residents.
St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba values its staff and regularly provides training and support services.
“We’re very serious about staff training — we’ve had 1180 people attending various training sessions at this facility since July, and that included specialised clinical care training for our registered nurses and a C.A.R.E workshop (which raises awareness about customer care, communication, attitude, respect and empathy and was attended by the majority of our staff ),” Elzette said.
“We have a highly qualified and skilled team here,” she added, with roles filled in various disciplines, like clinical care, administration, hotel services, pastoral care, lifestyle and social care, and maintenance.
“We also have two nurse– practitioners, contracted to support the complex clinical health care of our residents.”
St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba also has a secure wing, where they specialise in the care of patients living with dementia.
They work closely with Dementia Australia and recently put 37 staff members through a virtual dementia experience, to give them an idea of what people with dementia are experiencing.
While new standards of care have been introduced under the Single Quality Framework, Elzette believes this is just codifying what she and her team have already accomplished — individualised care.
The team at St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba are very person–centred, which means they place the resident at the core of the business.
The residents are involved in every decision affecting their care and their stay at St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba.
“We hold information meetings for residents and relatives, as well as round table meetings with residents, where we take note of their input on matters like food options, bus trips, and activities.
“So, we welcome the new standards and we welcome the royal commission’s enquiry into aged care.
“While there is a lot of negative publicity out there, there is also a lot of good happening in aged care and we look forward to their report,” Elzette said.
St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba has the capacity to accommodate 162 residents but, as the facility is currently being refurbished, it caters for up to 152 people at the moment.
The refurbishment will be completed by April 2020 — bringing the facility back to full capacity — so, reservations from prospective residents are again being accepted.
As part of the refurbishment, the rooms in the front section of the facility are all being converted to single en suite rooms, with more changes to come in the future.
“Watch this space,” Elzette said, hinting that it will be a major point of difference for St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba.
The facility offers the full aged care package — from community care, through to residential and respite care.
“We are passionate about aged care and, personally, I apply the ‘mum test’.
“Most people can identify with what they want for their mum, or what they want for their grandma.
“And, if it’s not good enough for my mum or grandma, it’s not good enough for the residents,” Elzette said.
While some people might say an aged care facility becomes a resident’s new home, Elzette has a slightly different perspective on the matter.
“I can never replace your home, but we look at what a ‘home’ should be for everyone — a place where you can feel loved, where you can love in return and be yourself, and a place where you have choices and can exercise control over your own life.
“We try to replicate all the things we need to have in our own home here, while living in our aged care facility.”
In keeping with this approach, St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba is discussing the possibility of adopting a dog or two with their residents, making full use of their system of round table meetings.
“In my opinion, nothing is impossible in aged care,” Elzette said.
Like any aged care facility, St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba has had to deal with complaints about food in the past, so they appointed a skilled hotel services manager who introduced regular food focus groups to consult with residents.
“Since then, our food complaints have taken a nose dive and our compliments have gone up.”
St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba actively supports its residents to maintain their links with the community.
“We support various projects, like making crafty socks for kids from Jondaryan State School in support of ‘Lots of Socks’, to raise funds and awareness for Down Syndrome Queensland.
Their latest project is to create an ‘imagination garden’ for the children at Jondaryan State School, and the residents also decorate and purchase cupcakes every year to raise funds for the RSPCA.
St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba welcomes and values volunteers (utilising them in numerous positions throughout the facility) and practice a habit of fun in the workplace.
“We spend the majority of our time at work, so we want our staff to have a nice experience while they’re here.”
If you’d like talk to the team at St Vincent’s Care Services Toowoomba about residency or volunteer opportunities, visit the facility at 227 Spring Street, or call (07) 4592 6900.