High-care residents at Renmark Paringa District Hospital’s aged care facility in the South Australian Riverland region are being moved to other nearby homes due to flood risk.

21 of the site’s 81 residents, who are not independently mobile, are being relocated to alternative Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network homes after Murray River water levels reached 18.7 metres.

As reported in The Senior South Australia, another group may be moved as well depending on how high the floodwaters reach, while the remaining residents are unlikely to be relocated, as they can move independently in the event of an emergency.

Speaking to ABC 891 Radio, Professor Nicola Spurrier (pictured), SA’s chief public health officer, said that the hospital levee is “possibly the strongest and widest in the state”, meaning there is little risk of the hospital itself being flooded.

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It’s been significantly reinforced recently. There are engineers that go and review the levee to check that it’s all in place on a daily basis. So, we feel very confident that the asset of the hospital is very well protected.

“Because of the vulnerability of these particular residents, where they’re situated in the hospital, the fact that it would be really difficult to move them if you needed to do it more quickly, we’re doing this in a precautionary way,” she said.