Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT has announced the impending closure of its Moama residential aged care home.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT has announced the impending closure of its Moama residential aged care home.
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The non-for-profit provider said the decision was made to close the 56-bed facility due to ‘’staffing challenges.’’
“Our facilities are people’s homes, so we understand how difficult this is for the residents, families, staff and the Moama community,” Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT chief executive officer Monique Reynolds said.
“This is an extremely hard decision to make, but ultimately the most responsible one. We need permanent, qualified clinical staff to support residents to age with dignity and receive quality, consistent, person-centred care.
Currently 22 beds at the 56-bed facility are permanently occupied.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
“We have worked long and hard to recruit more permanent staff, and we are grateful to the Moama community who heard our calls and joined our push. Like many aged care providers, we are still experiencing staff shortages, especially securing permanent registered nurses and a facility manager.
“As an emergency response to the workforce shortages, we assisted residents to voluntarily move at the beginning of the year and have been operating at a reduced capacity at Moama for the past 12 months.
“The wellbeing of residents is our priority, and we will be working individually with each Moama aged care resident and their families to find suitable alternative homes. We will be working with the region’s other local providers during this process.”
A closure date has not yet been confirmed, but the Moama facility has not accepted new admissions since October 2022.
Southern Cross Care has been operating the Moama facility since 2003.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Following discussions with families, Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT supported the transition of 17 residents in January this year.
Of the 56 beds, 22 are permanently occupied.
Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT has been operating the facility since 2003 on land owned by Murray River Council.
“We have been supporting people age with dignity for more than 50 years and currently run 28 aged care homes across NSW and ACT. We have a responsibility to provide quality and consistent care for all our residents,” Ms Reynolds said.
“This means, at times, we must make difficult decisions to ensure that we will deliver the best outcomes for residents.
“We remain committed to the Riverina region through our home care services, retirement villages, and other aged care homes.
“We will continue to offer our insight to government about the complexities of regional aged care, emphasising the critical factors that must be considered to devise effective solutions.”
A recent report by CEDA (Committee for Economic Development of Australia) stated aged care workforce shortages are preventing many providers from operating at full capacity and that new federal government reforms are putting further pressure on providers to maintain their workforces.
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