THE community of Bulahdelah has been thrown an aged care lifeline following the purchase of Anglican Care's Cedar Wharf Lodge which will continue to be run as a nursing home.
Stroud Community Lodge Chairman Robert Frost has confirmed the sale went through on Monday (September 16) saying the board was committed to running a facility responsive to the needs of the community.
"It is good news," Mr Frost said.
"It's a step forward and a positive move for us to provide another opportunity to service the community and provide more beds. It's really just broadening our service area."
Stroud Community Lodge Incorporated is a community-based not-for-profit company which provides residential care, respite care, independent living accommodation, home care services and Meals on Wheels from its base, which is made up of 31 residential rooms and three self-care units.
Similar to Cedar Wharf Lodge, Stroud Community Lodge had humble, grassroots beginnings.
Community-based
It began in 1985 at a meeting of the Stroud Lions Club, where it was agreed the town needed a home for its aged and disabled. A committee emerged, and the lodge opened its doors to 12 residents in 1990, and has since been extended a number of times.
Formerly known as Great Lakes Nursing Home, Cedar Wharf Lodge in Bulahdelah was opened as a not-for-profit aged care organisation in 1991.
It was built with money raised by the community and with the support of the Lindsay Ireland and his family who offered the family farm as security for the original development.
In July 2017, land and improvements were transferred to Anglican Care for a dollar, together with liabilities of $1.171 million.
Mr Ireland's granddaughter, Megan Smith, says the arrangement came with an expectation of continued aged care service provision and community benefit.
Anglican Care closed Cedar Wharf Lodge in March, 2022, citing financial concerns, without consultation or a search for alternative service providers, Ms Smith says.
"Our community entered into this agreement in good faith, expecting sustained, long-term healthcare services," Ms Smith said.
It, too, has expanded over time to become a 57-bed nursing home for low-care and high-care residents, with six adjacent self-care units.
Stroud group 'confident'
Mr Frost said he was unaware of the inner workings of Anglican Care or what was behind its decision to sell, but the board was confident.
"They are a big organisation and we are a small organisation and we run a pretty tight ship, and we've been fortunate that we've worked pretty hard to be successful (in Stroud) and I don't see any reason why we can't be successful there using the same strategies, the same models that we've used in Stroud.
"It is a bigger facility over there but it is still small compared to other places, and we'll just keep doing what we've been doing and I expect we'll make it work."
Cedar Wharf Lodge had forty rooms but some of those had four beds to a room which was not likely to be the case moving forward, Mr Frost said.
"I don't think they've ever had four people to one room, but we wouldn't be looking at having two people to the one room unless they were a couple."
It was likely to provide 50 beds, he said.
Some members of the community had hoped the building might become a Multi-Purpose Service in Bulahdelah.
Anglican Care said in a statement the sale followed a "competitive tender process".
"Anglican Care is pleased with the success of finding a provider committed to health care in the region and would like to wish the new owners well with their future plans for the site," it said.
An Anglican Care spokesperson has previously said the organisation did not expect to make a profit from the sale of the site after incurring "significant debt" when it took over the facility in 2017.
Ms Smith said a that separate expression of interest to buy the property had been submitted to Anglican Care but it had been turned down.
She was told, however, that she would be happy with the outcome, because it would be returned to being run as a nursing home.
"It's a great outcome, it's a fantastic outcome," Ms Smith said.
"It's an immediate outcome for the town for it to be returned to an operating facility, for community benefit, rather than waiting indefinitely for funding to convert its use."
