Radius Residential Care

Canterbury was again hit by a number of aftershocks yesterday affecting to a varying degree our facilities St.Ives, St. Helena’s, St.Winifreds and Elloughton gardens in Timaru.

Whilst staff and residents were unhurt, our buildings have sustained minor new damage consisting of superficial cracking. Liquefaction is evident in Christchurch.

All four facilities were diligent in effectively operating emergency procedures during (and immediately after) the aftershocks and have now returned to a mostly normal operation. Essential services such as gas, water and sewerage are being checked today. Access to drinking water and electricity is uninterrupted.

Communication throughout yesterday afternoon with our Support Office was sound. Supplies of food and medical supplies are not affected.
Our thoughts are with Residents, their Families and our Staff during this difficult time.

Dear Residents, Families and Friends,

I visited Christchurch again this week, Wednesday 2nd March and provide the following update:

St Winifred's: St Winifred's have a few more cracks in some areas, none of which are structural.

The facility is running at full capacity with water, electricity, sewerage and a full staff compliment. Some staff have had difficulties in getting to work as a result of the location of their homes, the status of their homes or simply crossing town through the cordoned area. We have been assisting with this process and have been running and internal bureau among our three sites to ensure that we are staffing with full staff compliments.

St Helena's: St Helena's is in Barbadoes Street and is within the cordoned off area. The building itself has sustained virtually no damage as a result of the earthquake or any aftershocks subsequent.

The facility is operating with full services, electricity, water and sewerage are all operating as normal. We also have a full staff compliment at St Helena's.

There is difficulty in reaching the facility as it necessitates entering the cordoned off area. This area has had increasing security in the last week or so and has resulted in some staff being held at the checkpoints whilst their identities are verified and in some cases the Manager has had to leave the facility and come up to get the staff and to debate with the cordon patrols in order to get staff through. These issues are relatively minor given the extent of the damage in Christchurch. Staff are fully aware of the need to carry ID forms at all times and this added security has not affected our ability to provide high level care.

Despite being in the central city area, St Helena's has come out of the earthquake unscathed and for all intents and purposes is operating as normal.

St Ives: St Ives borders Vogel Street and River Road. River Road was extensively damaged in the quake and the wing nearest River Road has been damaged at this facility. On the day of the quake, residents were moved from that wing and have since been relocated to other facilities. All family members have been contacted to advise them of this move.

St Ives has limited water supply, electricity and sewerage services. The city council are continuing to work on the water supply issue and advise that we can expect full water supply to be reinstated as soon as repairs are completed. The difficulty with the water supply is that the main supply it runs alongside River Road and they are repairing damaged pipes as they come upon the damaged areas one, at a time, slowly moving towards our facility. The facility had three feeds that were capped on Vogel Street, they have been re-commissioned to provide the facility with water until the main River Road connection is restored. All staff and all residents are in good spirits and being well cared for.

I will be visiting Christchurch again next week and if the situation has changed again in any way I will update this report. Should you have any queries or wish to obtain additional information about a friend or family member, please don't hesitate to call us.

Regards,

Brien Cree

We have been able to establish limited contact with all three of our facilities in Christchurch and are happy again to confirm there have been no injuries of either staff or residents. The facilities effected are St Ives, St Helena's and St Winifred's.

We have been in contact with all our major suppliers who provide us with essential items such as food, medical supplies, sanitary and hygiene supplies, etc. In all cases these companies have put contingency plans in place to enable the consistent supply of their products to our facilities. Examples of this are our food supplier who has sustained damage to their warehouse in Christchurch, however is running trucks from their Dunedin supply centre daily. Another example is a medicine product supplier, again their warehouse has been damaged in Christchurch, however they are running trucks from Auckland, leaving every day in order for us to maintain a 24 hour order and supply process. The facilities were all well stocked and therefore there is no immediate concern regarding supply of any food items or necessary products.

At the time of this update, the three facilities were still without electricity, however the emergency lighting systems are all operable. The three facilities are also without water from the town water supply, however they all have access to emergency water supply sources.

The pharmacies that supply our medications have provided us with alternatives if required and we can confirm access to medications is not affected. We have canvassed our staff throughout the rest of the country to determine if people would be available to travel to Christchurch if required to assist and have had an overwhelming response from health care assistants, registered nurses and support staff. I am traveling to Christchurch tomorrow (Thursday 24/02/11) and will be able to provide a further update following that visit.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those in Christchurch.

Brien Cree
CEO