Tom’s Court COVID-19 medi-hotel facility to open in Adelaide with ‘robust’ security
Tom’s Court Hotel, a new quarantine facility for infectious coronavirus patients at a city hotel will open this week. Here’s how it differs from a regular medi-hotel.
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A new quarantine facility for infectious coronavirus patients at a city hotel will open on Monday with “robust” security and overhauled ventilation systems.
Almost 60 specially trained SA Health frontline staff and police – but no private security guards – will work at Tom’s Court Hotel, on King William Street, which will treat all COVID-19 cases.
Authorities have extensively upgraded the 72-bed medi-hotel – launched almost three months after first proposed – with better ventilation, more security cameras and improved surface cleaning.
An official review last year found poor ventilation in the Peppers medi-hotel may have caused a virus leak, sparking the state’s worst cluster and triggering a snap statewide lockdown.
The current Victorian five-day lockdown has been sparked by the escalating Melbourne Airport Holiday Inn cluster linked to the mutant British strain.
Ahead of a government tour of the facility on Sunday, Health Minister Stephen Wade said a COVID contract with the former Wakefield Hospital would not be renewed.
A CT scanner and other equipment there will be decommissioned. The scanner will move to Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
In response to the Sunday Mail’s inquiries, the government said 16 SA Health staff and 41 officers would work at the facility, which will treat sick expatriates and any community transmission cases.
In a day, 10 nurses, 24 police, eight hotel concierge and cleaning staff will work at the facility but this will increase with any case surge. Staff are banned from other medi-hotels and “high-risk” areas such as hospitals or aged care and corrections facilities.
Assistant Police Commissioner Craig Patterson said a “sophisticated” 24-hour CCTV system and phone calls would monitor internal compliance.
He said the facility provided “robust” security that reduced breach risks. Staff were trained “in a higher level” of personal protection and almost three-quarters had worked in medi-hotels. Deputy chief public health officer Dr Emily Kirkpatrick said changes met “stringent” needs.
“We have also worked to design the rooms to be as self-contained as possible to minimise the number of times the doors are open, reducing the risk for potential transmission,” she said.
Nurse unit manager Nikki Clark volunteered after three months at the Pullman medi-hotel, where sick patients are treated in special areas.
“I think it’s important that we all do our part to help keep the community safe,” she said.
“Nurses play an important role in the COVID response, especially in the medi-hotels.”
Acting Inspector Bryce Wood, who will work at Tom’s Court, said better PPE was “critically important”.
He has been involved in COVID19 compliance since May last year and helped establish the now closed Mt Gambier medi-hotel.
“We will have enhanced PPE providing a greater level of protection,” he said.
“This is critically important to all people working or staying in the medi-hospital which will also enable workers to go about our normal lives with greater confidence
“With the enhanced PPE provides an overall safer working environment for everyone including those staying in the medi-hospital.”
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