Venkat Raman
Auckland, April 10, 2020
The Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) will relocate 20 residents of Rosewood Rest Home and Hospital to other facilities, Chief Executive David Meates has said.
He said that the shift will take place next week.
The second death related to Covid-19, which occurred yesterday, was that of a 90-year-old woman at Burwood Hospital, a resident of the Rest Home. She is reported to have age-related problems, before being diagnosed of the virus.
Hospital-level care
Mr Meates said that the residents will move to new homes in other aged care facilities providing hospital-level care over the next week.
“Families have been contacted and are central to our decision-making about where residents are being moved. Thankfully, there are a number of rest homes that have hospital-level rooms available. We expect all residents to be safely relocated to their new homes by the end of next week,” he said.
Mr Meates acknowledged the disruption that the move will cause to resident and their whānau, but under the present circumstances, it is the safest option since the DHB is unable to find appropriate staff to work at Rosewood to provide care to this group of vulnerable older people.
He said that following the transfer of this group of 20 residents, Rosewood Rest Home will have 24 residents and that the CDHB is confident of having sufficient staff to care for them.
“As of today, one further case of COVID-19 has been confirmed as part of the Rosewood Cluster. Our utmost priority is to keep residents safe,” he said.
