Tarcoola Aged Care facility: Hope in Tara amid reports of Southern Cross Care takeover

An aged care provider with experience on the Western Downs has put its hat in the ring to take over Tarcoola after the council announced it was shutting Tara’s only nursing home, throwing dozens of residents into limbo.

HEARTBROKEN: Tarcoola Residents Neil Smith, 84, Betty Shepheard, 91, and Jeanette Grimes, 84, said they were devastated to hear the council planned to move them from their home. Pic: Peta McEachern

Western Downs Regional Council is reportedly working with the not-for-profit organisation Southern Cross Care to take over the Tarcoola Aged Care Facility in Tara.

HEARTBREAKING: The Tarcoola Aged Care Facility in Tara on the Western Downs was forced to close because the council said it legally can't run with the amount of staff on the roster. Pic: Supplied

The council voted to close the 33 bed facility in July, stating unacceptable staffing levels posed too great a risk, despite the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission accrediting the home.

A handful of residents have already been moved to other facilities across the state, with one being shifted on Tuesday, August 31, to the Illoura Village in Chinchilla which is operated by Southern Cross Care.

Neither the council nor Southern Cross Care would confirm the reports, but the Chinchilla News understands an announcement on the future of the facility is imminent.

Southern Cross Care operates 10 residential care facilities across Queensland including the one in Chinchilla and Taroom on the Western Downs.

AT A LOSS: Tarcoola resident Ivy Hite, 82, and her husband Ray Hite 89 will be forced to separate if Tarcoola closes for good. Pic: Supplied

The son of former mayor Phillip Bougoure, and steering committee president Allan Bougoure said the future of Tarcoola was moving in the best direction for the residents of Tara.

“Mayor McVeigh told the steering committee that the council has been continuing consultation with a third party for the ongoing care for an aged care facility in Tara,” he said.

“The committee is happy with the council’s co-operation throughout the process and MP David Littleproud has been a source of continuous support throughout the entire process.”

LOCAL: Tarcoola Residents Jeanette Grimes, 84, grew up in Bell on the Western Downs before her nursing career took her overseas - although she later returned and married her neighbour, raising four children. Pic: Peta McEachern

Tarcoola resident Jeanette Grimes, 84, said the remaining 21 Tarcoola residents were still in the dark about whether they would be forced to move and said the mood at the nursing home was sombre despite staff’s best efforts to spread cheer.

The former nurse and administrator of the Patron Memorial Hospital at Port Vila said it was “rather sad” having to shift tables in the dining hall each time a friend left the facility.

“I wasn’t going to leave my room today because I was thinking how lonely it would be going out and sitting at a table by myself,” she said.

“We certainly hope that with all the effort that people have put in that Tarcoola can continue for the benefit of those who built it and so that people in Tara can be cared for in the future.”