Australian Unity is redeveloping its Walmsley Village nursing home in Kilsyth
ELDERLY residents of a Kilsyth nursing home were given only weeks to find alternative aged-care accommodation after being told the aged care centre was shutting down for redevelopment.
Outer East
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ELDERLY residents of a Kilsyth nursing home were given only weeks to scramble to find alternative accommodation after being told their aged care was closing for redevelopment.
Australian Unity, which runs Walmsley Village, told families of more than 100 residents at a meeting on August 1 they would be closing the nursing home and special accommodation on Greeves Rd, giving them eight weeks to find new lodgings.
While this won’t affect Walmsley Friendship Village units, it will mean people in permanent residential, palliative and respite care will need to be found beds elsewhere.
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The family of John, 90, had only signed a contract with Australian Unity four weeks before the announcement.
John’s daughter-in-law Sheila Douglas said while she did not have a problem with the rebuild, she took issue with the lack of notice and disclosure while signing people up when they were weeks away from announcing the redevelopment.
“You don’t do a multimillion-dollar project like this on a whim,” Mrs Douglas said.
“It’s a big thing to do this and there was no notice.
“They were signing people up to something with no intention of fulfilling it.”
She said it pitched residents and families in competition with one another, while they all furiously scrambled to find somewhere for their loved ones.
Yarra Ranges Mayor Len Cox said the council knew nothing about the redevelopment and had not received a planning application.
“I was disappointed to see they haven’t applied for a planning permit to build,” Cr Cox said.
“It’s a little bit disappointing all those people have been dislocated.”
But Australian Unity’s Public Affairs and Communications general manager Michael Moore said the almost 40-year-old nursing home no longer met the needs of modern aged care living
“Australian Unity is redeveloping the site. We expect to start work on a new aged care home as soon as we have the required planning and development approvals.” he said.
Mr Moore said the company had almost found all the residents alternative places and was helping the 120 employees to find new jobs.
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