Gold Coast Earle Haven rest home boss hits back at HelpStreet

THE business director of a Gold Coast retirement village in crisis with health authorities stepping in to ensure ongoing care has insisted his complex is still “very good”.

Ambulances at Arthur Earle Retirement Village. Picture: Tertius Pickard

THE business director of a Gold Coast retirement village in crisis has insisted his complex is still “very good”.

This afternoon Gold Coast Health, joined by Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics and police, took the extraordinary step of moving into the Earle Haven Retirement facility in Nerang after a mass staff walkout.

PARAMEDICS, POLICE DESCEND ON RESTHOME

It left the future living arrangements of 70 elderly and vulnerable residents in question.

Director of Miller Enterprises Arthur Miller told the Bulletin this afternoon the row was all due to a contract dispute with the rest home’s contractor HelpStreet but “everything was under control.”

Mr Miller claimed his Miller Enterprises gave the nursing company until August 9th to vacate as part of the contract termination.

“There is nothing wrong with the retirement village, it is very good,” he said.

“We had an agreement with the people who ran aged care and they had a problems with employees.

Residents at the Earle Haven retirement complex. Picture: Tertius Pickard

“They didn't perform their jobs to look after patients properly,” Mr Miller alleged.

HelpStreet medical contracting company have claimed that they had not been paid by Miller Enterprises PTY LTD and had informed staff of the situation earlier today.

Mr Miller a Brazilian investor who just last week purchased a separate $14 million property, said he had agreed to pay a portion of the funds on a number of conditions.

“We don’t have the licence, they are the ones who manage the health care, they are bad so we had to get them out of here, it is about the business agreement," he alleged.

“Some of the employees are still here, everything will be under control.”

Mr Miller said there was “more to” the contractor claims which he believed the Nurses Union and Federal Government would be dealing with.

“Earle Haven Retirement has no debt, we have all the money for employees but there are a lot of things we have to take care of,” he said.

“We told them they had up until the 9th of August to leave the premises, the decided to leave earlier.”

Gold Coast Health had set up a crisis centre in the facility to ensure the ongoing care and safety of residents, many of who are bedbound or suffer acute dementia.