The Victorian government has declared a statewide 'code brown', as of midday January 18 for its health service with the state's hospital system put under significant strain due to escalating COVID-19 hospitalisations.
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Ballarat Base Hospital is among six regional Victorian hospitals which have been placed under a 'code brown emergency' along with all metropolitan Melbourne hospitals.
East Grampians Health chief executive Nick Bush said Ararat residents shouldn't be concerned with the announcement.
"I wouldn't see that this announcement would have a major impact on the residents of Ararat and district," he said.
"It will be business as normal for us."
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Mr Bush said the 'code brown' would not affect residents being able to access care.
"I think that if people are unwell we will still be referring people to Ballarat to get the right level of care," he said.
The omicron-forced announcement marks the first time 'code brown' has been declared system-wide across the state.
"With the increased numbers of COVID-19 across Victoria there have been a lot of admissions to public hospitals, a lot more people have been seeking treatment," Mr Bush said.
"There has also been an increased number of staff that have contracted COVID-19 or are close contacts therefore they can't work within the Victorian health system.
"The state government has called a 'code brown' to respond to that emergency, it is set to ensure that people receive the care that they need."
There are currently about 5000 health staff unavailable across the state after they tested positive for COVID-19 or were identified as close contacts.
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The emergency measure allows health services to cease services to free up staff and to call back staff from annual leave.
"We are not planning to call back staff or cease services just yet," Mr Bush said.
"We have had a number of outbreaks within the community but services can continue as they are."
Victoria's deputy premier James Merlino said the declaration would improve the management hospitals are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We've reached a point in our health system where it's juggling severe workforce shortages," he said.
"It is the right time to do it now, not wait for a 'code brown' until two or three weeks down the track when we're seeing the impact of the peak of Omicron hospitalisations and ICU patients."
The Code Brown is expected to last four to six weeks or until health officials say otherwise.
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