Western Australia’s hotel quarantine boss Robyn Lawrence quits after series of bungles

WA’s hotel quarantine boss has quit after a series of bungles, the announcement made quietly in a late press release.

Western Australia’s hotel quarantine boss Robyn Lawrence has quit after a series of COVID-19 bungles.

Dr Lawrence, who has been the incident controller at the State Health Incident Control Centre for the past 15 months during the pandemic, will step down from her role on June 18.

Dr Lawrence has worked alongside chief health officer Andy Robertson, providing advice and support around clinical matters.

Her work included managing community and vessel outbreaks, overseeing the state’s hotel quarantine system, developing COVID-19 outbreak plans for hospitals and aged care facilities, and overseeing the rollout of the vaccination program.

Health Minister Roger Cook quietly announced her departure in a Friday evening press release, saying Dr Lawrence would take some leave before returning to the department.

West Australian Health Minister Roger Cook made the announcement on Friday evening. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Medical adviser Tudor Codreanu, who has experience in disaster medicine, will become the new incident controller.

Mr Cook said Dr Codreanu had led emergency responses as part of the Australian Medical Assistance Team, including COVID-19 deployments to Japan and Darwin.

Dr Codreanu was also involved in co-ordinating accommodation for cruise ship passengers on Rottnest Island and was integral in the responses to vessel outbreaks on the MS Artania, Al Kuwait, Al Messilah, Key Integrity and Patricia Oldendorff.

Mr Cook thanked Dr Lawrence for her “incredible service” to the state.

“She has shown strong and successful leadership during unprecedented and turbulent times, and has made a huge contribution to keeping the West Australian community safe,” he said.

“This is a gruelling, challenging role in which Dr Lawrence has excelled and we are fortunate she’ll be returning to the WA health system.”

Mr Cook said Dr Codreanu brought “a wealth of valuable experience” to the position.

The Mercure Hotel was at the centre of one recent outbreak. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tony McDonough

Dr Lawrence’s resignation comes after a series of failings within the quarantine system.

A security guard, who was not wearing a mask, caught COVID-19 from a guest at the Four Points by Sheraton, prompting a five-day lockdown in January.

In April, another lockdown was sparked after coronavirus spread from a returned traveller to three people in nearby rooms at the Mercure Hotel.

One of them then spent five days in the community while unknowingly infectious, spreading the virus to two other people.

It was then revealed the Health Department knew in March that three hotels were considered “high risk” due to ventilation issues.

Following that outbreak, the government announced the Mercure and Four Points hotels would be dumped from the quarantine system, while the Novotel by Langley would only be used for low-risk seasonal workers.

In May, a security guard at the Pan Pacific hotel contracted the virus and unwittingly spread it to two housemates, forcing some tough restrictions to be imposed.