Sunbury Community Health (pictured) has announced it will close the Sunbury Lions Aged Care home, 39km northwest of Melbourne’s CBD, on March 13 after 30 years – citing government funding and lack of resources.
The facility had been built by the local Lions Club and opened in 1991 with approval to care for 26 residents when there were no other aged care facilities in the local shire.
In a statement, the provider said: “The facility was originally designed as an accommodation hostel but is now required to operate as a fully-fledged nursing home. The age of the buildings, small scale of the facility, increasingly complex care needs of residents and limited government funding means the we can longer safely sustain the service.”
Refurbishment of the existing building had been found to be financially unviable, while the cost to rebuild at another site was estimated at $20 million.
“We have explored the possibility of refurbishing the current building, but it was not feasible due to the size of the land,” they say.
Sunbury Community Health is now footing the bill to relocate the 29 residents and support staff to find new jobs or retire after the closure.
The provider says they will continue to provide services through Home Care Packages and Commonwealth Home Support Programs.
The 40-bed DP Jones aged care home in Murchison, 167km from Melbourne, also closed last month.
