ROYAL Freemasons will sell all of its aged-care facilities, including its Sale property, which is currently home to 78 residents.
The Royal Freemasons management board said government reforms meant continuing to operate the homes was no longer sustainable and had prompted the decision to sell.
Some of the facilities already have interested buyers, while others are still on the market.
“As a result of this strategic refocus, the board is exploring options to transfer some of its assets to other quality providers,” Royal Freemasons said in a media statement.
This month, a new funding model came into effect, which Royal Freemasons said it could not operate within. The Commonwealth has increased expected staffing levels and pay rates to attract government funding. The Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) care funding model replaced the Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) on October 1.
The AN-ACC was introduced after the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety recommended a new funding model for residential aged care.
Royal Freemasons said that “any course of action the board decides to take will be in the interests of securing the long-term sustainability of our community and aged-care services”.
“Any net capital realised in the process will be directed to continuing our vision to support the communities of Victoria,” they said.
Health Workers Union (HWU) secretary Diana Asmar told the Gippsland Times they would be consulting with members at the Sale and Moe facilities in “meetings planned this coming week”.
“Aged care providers, whilst not common, do on occasion seek to sell their facilities,” she said.
“When this does occur, the priority for the Health Workers Union is our members, including the protection of their rights and entitlements.
“The Health Workers Union wants to ensure that staff in these facilities that are sold will be transferred with their entitlements intact and their length of service uninterrupted.
“We will work to ensure workers in any closed down facilities, should that arise, will be offered redeployment opportunities or redundancy.
“We will continue to have an open channel of communication with Royal Freemasons in the coming weeks to ensure the interests and rights of our members are upheld.”
Royal Freemasons chief executive, John Fogarty, told ABC Gippsland the changes made operating aged-care homes unviable for smaller companies.
“You’ll find there’s fewer but larger providers with many, many homes who are the ones that are going to be able to, I guess, survive the increasing pressure that’s coming in the new funding arrangement which started on October 1,” he said.
“The requirement to have a certain number of care minutes and registered-nurse care minutes coming in October next year is going to be very, very challenging for the industry.”
Royal Freemasons has aged care facilities across the state, with multiple in Melbourne, and more located in regional areas such as Benalla, Bendigo, Mildura and Ballarat.
In April, the Sale facility was sanctioned by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission for “not providing care to consumers that meets the Aged Care Quality Standard.”
It found the Sale aged-care home was significantly understaffed, which led to residents missing showers and other general care.
The sanctions meant the Sale centre would not receive any Commonwealth funding for new residents for three months.
The sanctions expired on Monday, July 11.
Royal Freemasons confirmed to the Gippsland Times the Sale facility was now bringing in new residents.
“We recommenced admissions on 24 August 2022,” Mr Fogarty said.
“Royal Freemasons has been working hard to recruit and fill shifts to ensure there are adequate staff to meet the residents’ care and needs, pausing admissions until we knew we could safely maintain high quality care for the existing residents.”
Mr Fogarty told the ABC the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission had complimented the Royal Freemason in its efforts to improve the situation at Sale.
In May, Royal Freemasons Sale told the Gippsland Times that three COVID-19 surge-workforce staff began work at the facility on Monday, May 9.
The COVID-19 surge-workforce staff were from the Department of Health.
Mr Fogarty, who was appointed CEO in May, replacing Kerri Rivett, said staffing levels continued to be an issue for Royal Freemasons, Sale.
“Prior to COVID-19, finding suitably qualified aged-care staff in regional areas has been difficult; now it’s become extremely challenging,” he said in May.
“We are still unable to fill some shifts at times. At Royal Freemasons Sale, we have some limitations on admissions to ensure we have adequate staffing ratios to provide care.”
Mr Forgarty had also outlined what the new Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells should do to address staff challenges at aged-care homes.
“Training incentives/subsidies for nursing and care students; return to immigration or 401 visas and; additional funding to support wage increases for the lowest-paid workers in aged care,” he said.
A number of COVID-19 outbreaks this year had also contributed to a lower level of fourth-dose vaccination levels compared with some other aged care providers in Wellington Shire.
“People who have contracted COVID-19 are required to wait three months before they can receive an additional vaccination,” Mr Fogarty said in August.
“Changing resident numbers and the fact it is not mandatory are additional factors contributing to the low percentage.”
A brochure sent to families of residents by Royal Freemasons said that “the AN-ACC will provide care funding to providers that (meet) the costs of delivering care to a resident, enabling a more efficient, transparent and sustainable system.
“The current process of ongoing comprehensive reviews and completion of charting, assessments and care planning will continue at Royal Freemasons.
“AN-ACC supports (a) care-planning approach based on the care needs and preferences of each resident,” the brochure said.
