The Aged Care Minister, Richard Colbeck has launched an aged care Business Improvement Fund (BIF) to provide short-term grants to eligible aged care providers – particularly those in rural and remote areas and in bushfire-affected areas.
However, the conditions for the grants reveal they aren’t so much about addressing the sector’s financial woes as helping providers get up to scratch or exit the sector.
According to the guidelines, the funding will be available to support three main actions:
- “Supporting a provider to go through a process of business improvement for example to assist in the restructuring of business operations and upgrading of financial management and IT systems;
- Supporting the transition of a business to a new provider; and
- Where there is no other option, supporting the safe and orderly close down of a business and transition of resident’s to appropriate alternative facilities.”
“It will be targeted to those providers at greatest risk of service failure and where the impacts on residents would be highest,” the fact sheet states.
It’s not exactly the vote of confidence in its financial survival the sector wants.
We all want to start the day optimistically.
How do you feel about going to work when your main ‘client’ will not back you up?
The grants will be an exercise in paperwork too. To qualify, providers must prove they have limited access to other funding sources, be in a financial position that is impacting on their ability to care for residents and have a strategy for business improvement.
The funding will also be closely monitored to “decrease the likelihood of future viability or quality assurance issues and ensure accountability for funds provided” – no gaming the system.
Applications will open from the end of February.
For more information, click here.
