Villa Maria Eastern Heights in Ipswich was happy to receive a very generous donation of two new iPads. The donation was made through a partnership between the Ipswich Hospital Foundation, West Moreton Health and the Ipswich City Rotary Club.
Villa Maria was one of 17 aged care homes to receive the iPad donation, which included other aged care homes in the West Moreton region.
The donation of the iPads is part of a project to assist residents and staff in aged care homes in rural areas of Queensland to connect more effectively with hospital specialists and doctors in the area.
“iPads enable virtual access to geriatric specialists to support patients in residential aged care and support GPs visiting aged care residents,” says Melinda Parcell, Executive Director of Community and Rural Services at West Moreton Health. “This type of virtual care supports the patients to access care in their place of residence and avoid ambulance transfer to the hospital.”
“The iPads have been invaluable to provide contact in many ways during times of restricted visiting at Villa Maria,” says Lesley Roberts, Residential Manager.
“Residents are able to access telehealth appointments with specialist services and maintain contact with their families in videoconferencing calls. It’s such an important way to maintain a connection with the world outside of the home.”
The project will increase capacity for specialist doctors to perform telehealth consultations with residents and staff and the iPads will provide significant benefits for the care of rural residents, by providing timely care, reducing the travel required by the Queensland Ambulance Services and supporting Covid-19 requirements for high risk populations.
“This is a great project that will be able to connect so many people right across the regions to new ways of experiencing care that is second to none,” said James Sturges, Chief Executive Office of Ipswich Hospital Foundation.
At the official launch of the iPads donation at Villa Maria Eastern Heights there were a number of notable attendees, including the Honourable Jen Howard (Member for Ipswich), as well as representatives from Ipswich City Rotary Club, West Moreton Health, the Ipswich Hospital Foundation along with staff and residents from Villa Maria including Residential Manager Lesley Roberts and resident Barbara.
Pictured above are Catriona Kennelly (Nurse at West Moreton Health), Lesley Roberts (Residential Manager at Villa Maria), Rowarn Luder (Chair of Ipswich City Rotary Club), Louise Day (Carer at Villa Maria), Barbara-Anne (Resident at Villa Maria), Chris Raymont (President of Ipswich City Rotary Club), Amanda Lewis (Nurse at West Moreton Health) and James Sturges (CEO of Ipswich Hospital Foundation).