Upper Hunter Councillor Troy Stolz is calling on the Federal Government to urgently step in to save the Merriwa Government Place Aged Care Centre, which is facing annual losses of more than $400,000.
Gummun Place supports up to 16 elderly residents, and is now on the brink of closure as it battles soaring operational costs, staff shortages, and strict compliance requirements introduced after the Royal Commission into Aged Care.
Councillor Stolz said the facility had become a vital part of the Merriwa community, allowing older residents to remain close to family and friends.
“Without federal support in its current format, we’re in trouble,” he said.
“We can’t keep it operating as the high-care facility that it has evolved to. It was once a hostel and over time it’s become high-care, which has been fantastic for the community.
“It would be devastating to see it close.”
He said staffing pressures were among the biggest challenges facing small regional centres.
“The cost of running a facility out in rural areas is hampered by staffing levels. We’re battling to keep local staff from the mines, and there’s a significant national shortage of aged-care workers,” said Cr Stolz.
“Having qualified registered nurses on duty 24/7 is fairly costly. Without significant government funding, it’s just impossible to break even.”
The Councillor said while the Council had done its best to support the centre, local government funds could only stretch so far.
“Scale of economies in any business is normally the key, but we need to take a more humane approach,” he said.
“We call it a business when really we’re talking about people’s homes. The people in these facilities are at the back end of their life, and some certainty and quality of care is so important.”
Council has applied unsuccessfully for federal grants on three occasions. Councillor Stolz said it had become clear that regional towns were missing out on critical aged-care funding.
“It’s short-sighted from the federal government,” he said.
“There are plenty of aged-care places, but they’re all in Sydney or the major cities — not in the bush. I don’t think that’s good enough. These people have worked all their lives putting food on the table for the rest of the country. They deserve to stay here.”
He said if the facility could not secure additional funding, the only options would be to downgrade to a hostel-style model or close altogether.
“We’d love to keep it as it is, but in the current situation it’s not financially viable,” he said.
“As a hostel it’s critical that we have something in this area. Our people want to live in our community and they should rightfully be entitled to see their time out here where they were born and raised.”
A Change.org petition calling for urgent support for the centre has received more than 8,500 signatures, which has been presented to Federal MP Barnaby Joyce and State MP Dave Layzell for tabling in Parliament.
“Whether that will move the needle, I don’t know,” Cr Stolz said.
“But it shows what rural communities feel about the need for aged-care in the bush. This is a massive issue, and it’s way bigger than just Merriwa.”
