Community
20 June, 2024
Aged care plan revealed
A CAMPAIGN to bring aged care back to Terang is progressing, with a leading aged care consultancy firm helping the Terang Aged Care Future steering committee develop a plan tailored to the community’s aged care needs for decades to come.
The steering committee, which is now formally known as Terang Aged Care Future, has taken the next step in the process to campaign for an aged care facility to be established in Terang.
Terang Aged Care Future has employed the services of consultancy firm Ansell Strategic, which specialises in aged care and has represented some of the biggest names in the industry.
The business case will be used to develop a compelling campaign to prove both the need and viability of an aged care facility in the town, which can be used to leverage funding to, in time, build a new, modern facility and begin operations.
Terang Aged Care Future chair Chris O’Connor said Ansell Strategic would help to develop the framework behind future planning to ensure the plan would appeal to potential providers and the community.
“The business case will take six or eight weeks, and it is a crucial piece of work to align us with a provider,” he said.
“We’re trying to match-up with a current, approved provider because we don’t see ourselves being a stand-alone facility because that’s just not viable in the long term.
“We’re building a business case surrounding being an attractive investment opportunity for an organisation, and we’re also sussing out interest from any other organisations.
“The business case is still up in the air a little bit; there’s still got to be some work on our region to identify what is lacking and where it is strong – this will show the potential over the next 40 years to show what the possibilities are.
“At the end of the day, we want a sustainable model. We don’t want something closing.”
The business case proposal will unfold over six stages, encompassing an industry overview, market analysis, service model options, business case and financial model and capital financing.
The first stage began on May 20 this year.
At the time of publication, stage three of the business case study is nearing completion which identifies potential service model options.
Throughout June and July, the final stages will continue including exploring financial models to develop the business case including required investment to assist with future government negotiations.
Grant and funding opportunities to build capital leverage, in addition to meeting with potential local operators which have expressed interest in operating a proposed facility, will be held through to mid-July.
Mr O’Connor said at the conclusion of the business case study, Terang Aged Care Future would take its findings to the public for the community to have its say.
“We’ll be doing future consultation, throwing it back to the community when we come up with what we think is a good model, with feedback from other parties which would like to partner with us,” he said.
“There will be opportunities for the community to be involved, give their view and gauge their support.
“There is no point in going forward with a larger investment without strong community support.”
Terang Aged Care Future has received preliminary support from Corangamite Shire Council through a $30,000 allocation in the recent draft budget, and conversations have begun with other organisations to assess potential investment opportunities.
Aged Care Future is able to accept donations to fund the planning, but Mr O’Connor said the process does not yet require the financial support of the public.
“We’ve had a lot of people come to us wanting to support us monetary wise, but at this point we’re being quite strategic with where we get our funds and when we turn to the public,” he said.
“We’re more inclined at this stage to look for funding from council, or philanthropic and larger business donations, rather than going to the public.
“There will be time for that later on where we have a large public appeal when we have all our ducks lined up.
“We understand you can’t keep going back to the well too many times.”
As Western District Newspapers first reported in August 2023, Terang Aged Care Future was established to explore options for the development of a new aged care facility in Terang – with the committee including members such as Mr O’Connor, Noorat’s Eve Black and Terang’s Dr Tim Fitzpatrick.
The need came after Lyndoch Living announced on May 31, 2023, it would cease operations at May Noonan aged care centre, in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to arrest the provider’s financial position.
Lyndoch Living last month announced it would merge in to not-for-profit aged care provider Respect Group, which will control operations of Lyndoch’s Warrnambool facility.
Despite the heartbreak the closure of May Noonan aged care centre brought to the community, the future of aged care in Terang looks bright.
The business case study’s May report from Ansell Strategic states the committee appears to have received preliminary Ministerial support for its development vision to progress this research and develop the case to commence funding negotiations with the State and Federal Governments to build a new facility.
In October 2023, Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell invited Mr O’Connor to Parliament to discuss the committee’s vision, which she publicly stated had her “full support” – a sentiment which has been echoed by federal member Dan Tehan.
In addition, the report also states the steering committee had received expressions of interest from aged care providers to operate the proposed facility, however no partner will be secured until the conclusion of the process.
Mr O’Connor warned bringing the project to fruition will take time, but acknowledged the strength of the proposal due to preliminary levels of bipartisan support, interested operational parties and a comprehensive business case proposal which he believes will outline a strong case.
“This (business case study) will be a piece of work we bring back to our community, which we can then use to advocate to government and others to support the model,” he said.
“With aged care in smaller country towns, there are not necessarily many people who are willing to come in and spend the dollars so they need to be incentivised to some degree.
“Our job will be to sell our case to others.
“Our belief is the Terang community have the right to age in their town and when they cannot stay at home any longer, there will be a place in Terang for them to spend their final years among family and friends.”
he believes will outline a strong case.
“This (business case study) will be a piece of work we bring back to our community, which we can then use to advocate to government and others to support the model,” he said.
“With aged care in smaller country towns, there are not necessarily many people who are willing to come in and spend the dollars so they need to be incentivised to some degree.
“Our job will be to sell our case to others.
“Our belief is the Terang community have the right to age in their town and when they cannot stay at home any longer, there will be a place in Terang for them to spend their final years among family and friends.”
