General News
2 June, 2023
Lyndoch to close May Noonan
LYNDOCH Living has officially announced its plans to close the May Noonan Aged Care facility in Terang, with current residents given the opportunity to join its Warrnambool-based residential accommodation.
After months of speculation surrounding the future of the May Noonan Aged Care Facility and Warrnambool’s Primary Care Centre, Lyndoch Living board chair Sue Cassidy and acting chief executive officer Jill Davidson told The Warrnambool Weekly the decision had been a difficult one but the future of the facility was untenable.
Ms Cassidy confirmed steps had been taken to sell May Noonan over the past few months but attempts to reach an agreement with other aged care providers were unsuccessful.
“Other aged care providers were invited to have a look and engage in negotiations, but that was as far as it went,” she said.
“The Board had to think hard about the future of the facility, our employees and most importantly its residents but the decision was ultimately made that we would have to close down May Noonan.”
Ms Cassidy stressed there would be no timeline on the decision to close the facility until every resident is adequately cared for. She stated there was sufficient rooms available to accommodate current May Noonan residents at Lyndoch Living’s Warrnambool residences, and any resident wanting to move on to a new aged care provider would be fully supported through that process should they choose.
May Noonan will remain open and operational until every resident has found new accommodation arrangements. “This is not ideal, and it doesn’t feel nice to have to make this decision,” Ms Cassidy said.
“But we want to stress we are only making this decision because Lyndoch Living can take every resident.
“There will not be a situation we have seen with other aged care providers closing where residents do not have a home to go to.
“We have spoken to our residents and their families, informed them they will have a place with Lyndoch Living, and we also understand they may look at other providers if they want to stay in a rural area.”
Acting CEO Jill Davidson said the decision had been made due to both a lack of available staffing in Terang, and a lack of funding required to get the existing May Noonan facility up to operational standards.
“With the problems of staffing we had to become reliant on agency staff, which is expensive and difficult to maintain,” she said.
“This created gaps in staffing, and with only 18 residents it was too hard to keep running below 50 per cent capacity.
Ms Davidson said Wednesday (May 31) was the first day of planning a consultation period with residents and family, staff, unions, council, local MPs and stakeholders.
“This is a complex process that will not happen overnight,” she said.
“We have plenty of beds at Lyndoch Living, we’re not in same position as others which have closed down with residents not having anywhere to go.
We do, and all our residents will be cared for until appropriate accommodation arrangements can be made.”
Ms Davidson said she believed a sale of the existing facility was unsuccessful as many of the issues May Noonan faced would be inherited by another provider. “Infrastructure has been the biggest issue,” she said.
“May Noonan has small rooms, joining en suites and it would take a fair bit to upgrade.
“With the health and mobility of residents at the forefront of care, the rooms are just too small, the hallways too narrow to accommodate lifting machines and there is no capital funding to redevelop the facility.”
Ms Davidson said the future of the facility could involve a sale to another business seeking accommodation options, but stressed it could be years before any formal decision was made and any sale finalised.
Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell released a statement on Wednesday saying she had been in contact with Lyndoch Living board chair Sue Cassidy.
“The closure of the May Noonan Centre is devastating news for residents and their families and the broader Terang Community,” she said.
“I feel for residents and their families who will want to be close to their loved ones in care, and who now face the prospect of no longer having them close by in their community.
“The community worked hard for many years to ensure Terang had this facility available to its locals and they will be rightly upset to see it now closing.
“It is an unavoidable truth that this is a result of the challenges Lyndoch has found itself in over the last few years, and the pressures being felt in the aged care sector, particularly in staffing.”
