The Canossian Sisters have handed over the operation of their Queensland health, aged-care and retirement services to the Queensland Not For Profit.
The transfer – which took place on 1 December – includes an aged care facility and retirement village at Oxley, and an aged care facility at Trebonne, in Far North Queensland. A private hospital and medical centre are also on the Oxley site.
An international congregation, the Canossian Daughters of Charity first arrived in Brisbane from Italy in 1949 and had operated the sites for almost 60 years.
Delegate leader of the Canossian Sisters of Australia Sr Mel Dwyer – who guided the transfer on behalf of a group of 30 sisters – says the transfer was necessary as the sisters grew older.
“The sisters who built these services from the ground up are in their 70s and 80s, and we don’t have younger sisters coming through who are able to run such a large entity with all of the necessary requirements of the health sector,” she said.
“We’ve had to look at what we can do best and that is provide pastoral care in partnership with Ozcare.”
The Canossians will maintain a presence at the facilities, with a number of sisters remaining on site at Oxley and Trebonne, and another two sisters living in the aged care facility itself.
Ozcare chief executive officer Tony Godfrey said Ozcare shares a common goal with the sisters to provide aged and community services in rural and remote locations on a purely mission basis.
“We will continue their legacy and the philosophy of care that is to bring comfort, health and hope to the sick, aged and dispossessed,” he said.
Ozcare was established as a special work of the St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland in 1996 and now has more than 15,000 clients, 3,000 staff and over 40 locations.
