More than 100 residents would be affected by State Government plans to sell the Richard Geeves Centre in Sydney’s North Shore suburb of Turramurra (pictured), which has been operated by the Not For Profit since 2014.
The announcement has sparked concern from staff and families that residents will not be able to access respite care in their local area – potentially forcing a need to move into residential care.
HammondCare said staff were told last month by NSW Health that it planned to sell the facility though a competitive open tender process in August – but Hammond’s group general manager, David Martin, said the department “had not provided details” as to why it wants to sell the site.
First opened in 1989, the facility is nearly 30 years old – an age at which accounting firm Stewart Brown says most facilities need to be rebuilt.
Mr Martin says the open tender process could see the NFP outbid by a private developer.
“We’ve been negotiating with various arms of the government for more than two years and have made various offers to buy the land so the services could continue without disruption,” said Mr Martin.
“An open tender makes it very difficult for an independent charity like us.”
Hammond was also in the process of seeking an alternative site to prepare for potential closure when its lease expires in December.
