ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
By ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC
ALL smiles at Bupa aged care facility in Traralgon as the home celebrated its eighth Birthday last Thursday. Residents, their relatives and staff were all invited to enjoy a special barbeque and locally made cupcakes to celebrate the joyous occasion. Elaine Lay, 92 one of the home’s first residents, praised the home as a top place to live. “We’re treated like human beings. We are treated really good here,” she said. Elaine who has lived in Gippsland all her life came from a farming family. Former secretary of the Lakes Entrance Senior Citizens Club a natural leader, Elaine formed Bupa’s knitting club. Elaine is joined by her daughters to knit every Thursday morning. “We’ve got the room full of knitters now, to start off we only had about two or three,” she said. Under new management, Bupa Traralgon has managed to reach 50 per cent capacity for the first time in three years. The new general manager Chelsea Eldred praised the care staff who show up to work every day to help. Bupa has had a turbulent eight years. The aged care home went under fire in recent years, having been sanctioned on two separate occasions by the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency. The home also fell into controversy in 2020 as the first aged care facility in the Latrobe Valley to suffer a COVID-19 outbreak. The aged care facility looks to have improved drastically in recent times. According to Bupa Traralgon’s recent ‘Resident Experience Survey’, the home has a 94 per cent overall satisfaction rating given by residents and their relatives. Lisa Jackson, 59 and Kerry Swiety, 58 have worked at Bupa Traralgon since the very beginning. With Kerry working the first-day shift and Lisa working the first night shift at the facility. The pair credited the aged care home’s improvements to the new management staff who have turned things around since arriving last December. “I’ve had a more positive attitude,” Lisa said. When asked what makes Bupa Special, Kerry stated, “I think the residents. The residents need to have people that they can rely on. That they can see the same person, the same people all the time, so that they can get a connection, a relationship with the staff, so they can trust them”. For the staff at Bupa Traralgon, the birthday party was more than just a birthday, it was a commemoration of change, improvement and community.
