Land lease and village operators take note: regional aged care beds are declining
Duncan McKimm, a regional co-located village and care CEO, presented this graph on his LinkedIn site last week and said the problem is not what you think.
The natural conclusion is it that it is not financially viable to build new aged care beds in the regions. He says it is not the finances – it’s the supply of Registered Nurses.
The money people won’t fund because the rules now require 44 Registered Nurse minutes per resident per day, but there are no RNs for new beds – or old beds for that matter.
He says: “If you think capital allocators aren't looking at the availability of RNs as their first order of business, you’re mistaken. If they don't think RN supply is reliable, they do not pass go.”
Why is this relevant for land lease and village operators? Nurses are also required for home care as the acuity of residents and level of home care (Support at Home) increases.
But if no nurses are available, what happens to those residents? And what happens to the character of the land lease community or the village?
Are operators developing strategies for this change in business model? We are not seeing it. The canary in the coalmine.
