Community-owned aged care provider Autumn Lodge in Armidale, NSW, has agreed to merge with Uniting NSW.ACT after an extensive search.
Autumn Lodge – which sounded the alarm earlier this year that it was operating at a loss and may run out of money within three years – received interest from 17 organisations looking to take over the business, and narrowed the list down to four before deciding on Uniting’s offer.
“Uniting currently provides care and assistance to more than 118,000 seniors across NSW and the ACT, including existing home care clients in Armidale and our residential aged care residents in Tamworth,” said Uniting Executive Director Tracey Burton (pictured). “We are optimistic about the future of care and services in the broader New England region. We look forward to Autumn Lodge joining the Uniting family as we continue to expand our services in the region.”
According to David Steller, Chair of Autumn Lodge’s Board, Uniting was the strongest applicant based on the criteria set for the search.
“There is a strong fit with the values of Autumn Lodge, experience in regional service delivery, capacity to add value to the existing operations, and experience in major capital works programs that can extend and/or upgrade the existing facilities.
“Uniting has also recently completed a similar merger of Crookwell and Taralga Aged Care – a similar community-based aged care provider to Autumn Lodge,” he said.
David believes that Uniting is best placed to safeguard and build on the legacy of Autumn Lodge, which has been in Armidale since 1896 and has operated in its current form since 1956, and that the deal will ensure Armidale residents can continue to access aged care in the long term.
“Some of the key factors in our selection of Uniting were its commitment to build on the existing service and create a regional hub, redeveloping the site in the medium term, continuing procurement from local businesses where possible, and lastly the important commitment to retaining staff.
“We are confident that Armidale will continue to see investment and employment directly and indirectly from these commitments,” he said.
Speaking to The Weekly SOURCE, David said Autumn Lodge had presented a five- to ten-year masterplan for redevelopment to prospective buyers, in which Uniting had seen potential.
“The masterplan will form a part of that decision-making process, but I daresay they’ll do a major review of it just to see where the opportunities are,” he said.
Due diligence is currently being performed, with the deal expected to be finalised in September.