Regional NSW nursing home given lifeline
Regional NSW nursing home given lifeline by not-for-profit provider
RSL LifeCare has saved the 20-bed ADA Cottage in Kandos, which is about 230km northwest of Sydney, from shutting its doors.
The Cottage is operated by the Rylstone Kandos Aged and Disabled Association and its board chairperson Johanna Marr reveals the home had agreed to the merger so they can keep it running for local residents.
“Each management committee since early 2000 understood that an aged care facility with less than 40 beds was not a viable option. This figure is now 60 beds,” she said.
A planned merger with regional facilities in the nearby town of Mudgee was meant to go ahead in 2013, but was scrapped.
RSL LifeCare gave ADA’s management committee two options to save it from closure: employ RSL’s services for a set period at no cost; or join with the big provider but still keep its own name and funds; with the second option receiving the thumbs up.
“It’s something we always resisted,” Mrs Marr says, “but to be honest the paperwork was drowning us and there have been more cuts to funding and more legislative changes, making it impossible for small facilities.”
In a bonus for the small local community, all 27 staff will retain their jobs while all money raised by the association will be invested back into the Cottage.
The official amalgamation is scheduled to go ahead on October 18 with the Cottage joining RSL’s 22 nursing homes and 22 retirement facilities across NSW and the ACT.
