On 27 February 2022 news started to circulate that the Brisbane River would break its banks and the possibility that The Wesley Hospital would be cut off from the rest of the city became a reality.

In an outstanding show of selflessness, professionalism and dedication of all The Wesley team members who either came in to the hospital or committed to stay back to care for the 300 patients who were not able to be moved.

General Manager Sean Hubbard said he witnessed first-hand the incredible teamwork and passion of Wesley people, going over and above for their patients.

“We had staff come in to work when they knew their own homes would be flooded, people brought overnight bags and committed to stay as long as was needed, staff parked their cars and walked kilometres to reach the hospital,” Mr Hubbard said.

“While we tried to decant the hospital as much as possible some patients remained needing our care and thanks to the dedication of our team members we were able to perform emergency surgeries, provide medical imaging and pathology services.

“Despite the fact that staffing was reduced and resources were stretched, we were still able to maintain our high standard of patient care, which exemplifies how outstanding our team truly is.”

Sean said it was all teams pulling together from nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, cleaning services, catering, engineering, security, orderlies, medical records, switch board, administration and bookings office who came together to provide for both patients and their fellow colleagues.

“The teams in the kitchen should be commended for the work they did ensuring all staff and patients were fed, they produced over 1000 meals each day,” Mr Hubbard said.

It is also important to remember that in February of 2022 COVID-19 was still rampant in the community with an average of 23 000 new cases reported each day and 2 000 daily hospitalisations.

Such an outstanding response earned the hospital a UnitingCare Full Circle Award in November last year.

“The dedication, care and compassion our staff show toward their patients is something that should be commended and I will never be able to thank them enough for what they have done, these people humble me.”