The majority of Tenterfield Care Centre Ltd (TCC) members have voted in support of the specialist aged care provider Apollo Care taking over their Haddington and Millrace homes, plus affordable housing, at Tenterfield, 275km southwest of Brisbane.
Haddington and Millrace, which have a combined 82 beds, will retain the TCC brand. Community links, employee terms of employment, and resident agreements will remain unchanged.
Initially, Apollo Care will focus on recruiting staff and implementing IT, culture and governance systems. They will also complete the build of 28 new beds at Haddington.
Governance becoming major hurdle
Apollo Care is in discussion with half a dozen other providers regarding potential alliances, due to a range of factors, including financial distress, compliance and governance issues, Apollo Care CEO Stephen Becsi OAM told The SOURCE.
"Currently, financial distress is the primary driver however, there is an increased volume of discussion around the new governance requirements. In some cases, the sheer volume of governance reform and reporting requirements is becoming a risk for regional based independent organisations."
Apollo Care will become the Approved Provider of Haddington and Millrace on 28 November.
Stephen and Barry Ashcroft, former CEO of Domain Aged Care, now Opal HealthCare, who co-founded Apollo Care with Stephen in 2020, attended a town hall meeting at the Haddington facility on 21 November .
Apollo Care now operates 11 aged care facilities, mostly in regional centres, as well as retirement villages, affordable housing, home care, childcare, and a medical practice.
