An Australian soldier turned nursing home boss has been called out after sending a brutal message to her aged care staff about the untidy state of the facility.
Eva Ballai, director of nursing at Fairfield Aged Care Home in western Sydney, wrote a blistering note to staff members on Thursday.
The message scolded the workers for the ‘awfully dirty’ communal kitchen, referenced their mothers and took a dig at the fact many of the workers had come from overseas claiming the standard of cleanliness was much higher in Australia.
‘Cockroaches are crawling everywhere on the floor and in the sink and they attract food poisoning and other outbreaks,’ Ms Ballai wrote.
‘You MUST clean up after yourself because YOUR MOTHER DOES NOT WORK HERE!
Eva Ballai (pictured), director of nursing at Fairfield Aged Care Home in western Sydney, berated staff members for not keeping their kitchen clean, telling them: ‘YOUR MOTHER DOES NOT WORK HERE!’
The message sent to Fairfield Aged Care Home staff by Eva Ballai, the director of nursing (DON), which was leaked to Daily Mail Australia
‘The standard of cleanliness is higher in Australia than anywhere else, so because you live in Australia now and NOT overseas so you MUST adhere to this standard.’
It is believed that the majority of staff members are Nepalese.
Some of the 50-odd employees at the nursing home are understood to be appalled at the brutal message.
One, who asked to remain anonymous, told Daily Mail Australia that Ms Ballai regularly spoke to staff in that manner.
‘I found it very disturbing,’ they said. ‘The letters in bold are cruel and condescending.’
‘We live in a multicultural country and comments like that should not be tolerated.’
The employee added: ‘Staff work so hard there and she doesn’t show any respect. We don’t appreciate it.’
Ms Ballai, who has worked there for around four years, is also alleged to have banned staff from speaking in their own language in the kitchen during their breaks.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Ms Ballai for comment.
Fairfield Aged Care Home is run by Hall & Prior Health & Aged Care Group, which owns and operates 33 care homes across Western Australia and New South Wales.
A spokesperson for Hall & Prior admitted the text message sent to all staff today at Fairfield Aged Care Home did not meet the usual standard of the organisation’s communications.
‘We apologise for this message unreservedly and any offence it may have caused,’ the statement said.
‘We take this matter very seriously and are immediately undertaking a thorough review.’
Ms Ballai has served served as a Commissioned Nursing Officer with the 8th Combat Service Support Battalion the Australian Defence Force
Fairfield Aged Care Home is one of 33 nursing homes run by the Hall & Prior Health & Aged Care Group across New South Wales and Western Australia
Ms Ballai has had a decorated nursing career and has served in the Australian army.
She reportedly fled war-torn Yugoslavia for the Gold Coast in 1992 aged 25 with just two suitcases, one filled with clothes, the other with nursing books.
But her nursing qualifications were not recognised in Australia.
The political refugee improved her English at TAFE and soon found a job as a nursing assistant in a local aged care home.
From there she completed a degree in nursing, which led to many years working in acute care settings at the Gold Coast Hospital, Pindara Private Hospital and Allamanda Private Hospital.
‘When I was working at Gold Coast Hospital I was the only non-English speaking nurse at the time,’ she told Griffith News in 2017.
‘Society has come a long way since then.’
Ms Ballai then completed a Masters of Business Administration Advanced (Health Care Services Management and Marketing), which paved the way for a successful career running care homes across Queensland and New South Wales.
She also served as a Commissioned Nursing Officer with the 8th Combat Service Support Battalion the Australian Defence Force.
‘I know it sounds cheesy and I’d like to say joining the Australian Army at 40 was a mid-life crisis, but it wasn’t,’ she said.
‘I think I was ready to give back and I just wanted to say thank you to Australia for giving me a second chance in life.
‘Nursing is my life and it’s my character — I just like helping people.’
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