In a meeting on Monday, Upper Hunter Shire Council voted for the remaining 16 residents of Gummun House Hostel in Merriwa, 275km northwest of Sydney, be found alternative accommodation, as the Council continues seeking a new provider.
As covered in last week's SATURDAY digital magazine, the 16-bed Council-run home has become a case study in the near-impossible task of keeping small regional aged care homes afloat.
The Council will work with the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing to find an alternative aged care operator for the home. Efforts to find an operator so far have been unsuccessful. Of the 160 aged care providers contacted in January to submit an expression of interest in taking on the home's operation, only one responded, but later withdrew its interest after a site inspection.
"Our priority is ensuring residents continue receiving excellent care while securing the facility's long-term viability," said Mayor Maurice Collison.
In November, The Weekly SOURCE reported the Mayor had written to the Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler asking for "immediate and ongoing" assistance to keep Gummun Place Hostel open. Other homes in the area are also facing difficulties, with Mercy Services' Singleton home's planned closure in March 2025 and Wallsend Aged Care Facility in Newcastle shut in 2024.
Anglican Care's Cedar Wharf Lodge in Bulahdelah was slated for closure, but as we wrote in October 2024, it will continue operating as an aged care home under Stroud Community Lodge.
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