Coronavirus: Horsham publican turned orderly during pandemic

As coronavirus cases rise in regional Victoria, local hospitals are desperate for support staff. See how a Horsham publican is joining the good fight.

Pitching in: Nick Murray, the publican at Horsham’s Exchange Hotel, displays his ID card as an orderly at the Horsham hospital. Picture: Dannika Bonser

A HORSHAM publican has gone from working behind the bar to the medical frontline as the coronavirus grips regional towns.

Nick Murray, who runs the Exchange Hotel in Horsham, started working as an orderly at the local hospital last week after he was forced to close his pub’s doors.

“Most small business owners save for a rainy day but don’t save for a rainy three months,” he said.

“So rather than sitting around and doing nothing, I thought I still need to put food on the table and get an income.”

Wimmera Health Care Group — which encompasses Horsham and Dimboola hospitals — is on the hunt for extra support staff to help during the pandemic, and Mr Murray said it was a no-brainer to apply.

“It’s a bit of a win-win, I could have got a job doing something else. But the fact that I’m able to help and be on the frontline is a really good thing,” he said.

Mr Murray said he had already noticed a few similarities between hospital work and the hospitality industry. “The tasks are different to in a pub, but in one sense it’s still client relations and helping people and making them feel at ease which is something that we do at work everyday in hospitality,” he said.

While it has involved a learning curve, Mr Murray said there were certain skills he would be able to take with him. “If I don’t have the cleanest pub in Australia after this then something is wrong,” he said.