By Mikayla van Loon
Before the Covid-19 pandemic really took hold in Australia, Jillian Christie was already ahead, seeking protective equipment and putting what became CovidSafe measures in place.
As the CEO of Monkami, a disability support organisation based in Croydon, Ms Christie knew, should Covid reach those living in their care, it could be disastrous.
Ms Christie has now been recognised for her proactive efforts, that started as early as December 2019, as the recipient of the Champion Award in the Victorian CovidSafe Business Awards run by the Victorian Chamber and the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions.
“We watched what was happening in Wuhan very closely in the December. So by the January, we were also watching what was happening in Taiwan. We then realised that it would likely be a respiratory pandemic,” she said.
Having a nursing background, Ms Christie said mitigating the risk factors for their residents was most important.
“In order to protect our people, we knew we’d have to elevate the clinical skills of our staff who are not clinically trained. So we started training our staff on elevated infection prevention control measures.”
Seeing the growth of infections in Europe early in 2020, Ms Christie said she had some idea that there would be a serious supply shortage of PPE and so she secured thousands of garments and 60,000 masks for her staff at that time.
Taking a calculated risk, Ms Christie closed one of Monkami’s sites to use as a treatment centre for anyone who contracted Covid-19.
“Understanding that while you might be able to isolate in your home, it’s very difficult for our guys to be able to isolate the room because of a range of disabilities.
“So that our people in our other residential sites, if they contracted Covid, they would still receive support like human beings in a house and we would isolate them in a house, not a bedroom.”
Protecting people in Monkami’s care couldn’t have happened without protecting staff at home as well, so Ms Christie took every step to ensure her staff had hand sanitiser and masks throughout the lockdowns.
An important part of that holistic approach was caring for her staff’s mental health and wellbeing because all she asked was they “bring [their] best self to work.”
Since those initial measures were put in place, Ms Christie has continued to implement changes as the pandemic has developed – including getting all staff and residents vaccinated as soon as they could.
“I think this forward planning has protected the organisation and it hasn’t just been one strategy. It’s been a perfect storm of strategies that have been executed very timely, that have worked very well.”
Although the award Ms Christie received was for her individual contribution to Covid safety, she said had it not been for her staff’s trust, none of it would have run so smoothly or efficiently.
“We really have probably been doing 16, 17, 18 hour days for two years, we haven’t had a break and it’s been constantly trying to keep the psychological well being of our entire team to get them to come into work,” she said.
“When this award came out, I just felt really proud. I’m really proud that everyone has trusted the decisions and has executed them without question.
“And the different elements of kindness that I’ve seen people show one another throughout this I just feel really, really proud.”
