Craigieburn Centre has seen a lot of change since the beginning of the pandemic.

Back in June, a drive-through COVID-19 testing clinic was erected in the Craigieburn Centre car park, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services.

Since then, the clinic has seen over 30,000 people.

Running seven days a week, including public holidays, the clinic has been an important part of our pandemic response by helping to test a large proportion of the community, in the safety of their cars.

Since its inception, staff have demonstrated terrific team work and adaptability during uncertain and challenging times.

With the rapidly evolving situation, staff have had to be flexible as they learnt to quickly adapt to many changes as the pandemic unfolded.

During their busiest time in July, the clinic swabbed an impressive 619 patients in one day.

Natasha Knapic, Project Manager COVID-19 Testing Clinics, said the environment staff are working in can sometimes be a challenging one, however the team have shown just how dedicated they are through their exceptional care to our patients and to each other.

“We are very grateful for their ongoing hard work and dedication,” she said.

“The smooth running of the clinic can be attributed to a collaboration of many staff members from different departments including PSA’s, ward clerks, pathology staff and nurses.”

Northern Pathology Victoria runs a fast and efficient service and has an average turnaround time of 8 hours for results, with all test results available within 24 hours.