The latest Catholic facility to announce its imminent closure is Waiatarua Mercy Parklands in Auckland.

Residents and their relatives of the 97-bed 100-staff rest home are being consulted about the closure.

Besides lacking staff, the aged care facility, which was started by the Sisters of Mercy, is losing $100,000 per month.

Management has announced it will close in three months.

Residents must find alternative care within that time.

Relatives are shocked and upset.

Speaking for the Mercy management team, Ann Coughlan announced the news.

"It is with incredible sadness that I announce that after nearly 40 years of operation in the Ellerslie area, Mercy Parklands will close in its entirety, which will be effective in three months from today.

"This is a very sad day for our residents, their whanau and families, our staff and everyone in our community who has been involved in our operations over the decades appreciate this will come as a great shock and that it is a blow to the community - again, I am very sorry for that," Coughlan wrote to relatives.

Relatives had hoped the rest home could remain open and said they had raised $60,000, with commitments of a further $30,000 for that to occur.

Presbyterian Support's Enliven

Finding sufficient staff for rest homes is a problem mirrored throughout New Zealand.

The ODT reports that staff levels at Presbyterian Support Otago's (PSO) Enliven rest homes, plummeted by more than a third within a year.

Permanent staff turnover is almost 30 percent.

Last month PSO announced the closure of its 24-bed psychogeriatric unit at Dunedin's Ross Home due to a lack of staff.

In the year to 30 June, PSO staffing had reduced from 682 to 443 caregivers.

"The cost of overtime and rest-home and hospital beds not being filled also impacts our occupancy rates and income," he says.

The exodus of staff caused a "huge" impact on those who remained and also affects the organisation's ability to operate at full capacity.

He attributes the staff shortages to the Covid-19 pandemic, a shortage of nurses and caregivers in New Zealand and the higher pay offered to those who worked for Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand amid the rising cost of living.

PSO's financial situation was concerning because while the overall financial result showed a net surplus of $600,000, this included net revaluation gains from investment properties.

"The underlying operating result is a significant net deficit of $1.6 million," he said.

"This is not as bad as some of the other Presbyterian organisations in New Zealand but still very sobering."

Mepham thinks the Government could help by offering targeted financial support to registered charities operating in the aged-care sector.

This "would enable providers like PSO to offer pay parity with Te Whatu Ora," he says.

Mepham said the PSO did not exist to return a profit to shareholders, and any profit supported its social services, and that this was true of other many other aged-care providers.

St Joseph's Home of Compassion

A couple of months ago, St Joseph's Home of Compassion 87-bed rest home in Upper Hutt was facing imminent closure. Today it hopes to keep its doors open after all.

Hearing of the closure, Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy said it was "catastrophic for the community."

His comment prompted help in the form of a partnership with another aged-care provider, Heritage Lifecare, to work in partnership with the Sisters of Compassion.

But Waiatarua Mercy Parklands board chairman Arthur Morris says it is unlikely to be able to remain open.

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• ODT
• NZ Herald
• NZ Herald

Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy labels the closure as "catastrophic."

Guppy said he attended a packed meeting of family members at the home's chapel on Wednesday night.

"It was a bolt from the blue.

"People were obviously sad and wondering what was going to happen to their loved ones," Guppy said.

"It's not a small organisation and clearly this is not about money, it's about workforce.

"Registered nurses, we need you," Guppy said.

Its closure will mark a big change for the Sisters of Compassion, who have provided service to the elderly in Upper Hutt for almost 100 years.

Chief executive Chris Gallavin said the facility had been kept open "through a wing and a prayer and Band-aids" but was unable to sustain its services in the face of the current nursing shortage.

"Our normal contingency of [nursing] staff is 15 but we've been hobbling along with five. Staff have been working double and, at times, triple shifts," Gallavin said.

"Purely and simply we don't have the nursing staff and caregivers to stay open," Gallavin said.

The closure is the result of aged care providers everywhere suffering from a nursing shortage.

St Joseph's accommodates 87 residents. It provides 16 beds for dementia care, with the rest a mix of elderly and hospital-level care.

Health Minister - Andrew Little

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation said recently our own health sector was more than 4,000 nurses short.

Problems attracting qualified staff have been ongoing since before the pandemic. says Dr Chris Gallavin, Co-Executive director of the Sisters of Compassion group.

It has been increasingly challenging to recruit and retain nurses, caregivers and support staff, he explains. The last six months have been especially difficult.

"Unfortunately, we can no longer staff our home to the levels necessary to provide the quality and safety of care that we all expect and that they deserve."

Over the last three years, Gallavin says they've been working as "innovatively and creatively as possible" to find solutions.

"We have advertised nationally and internationally, working with agencies, exploring options for staff including delaying retirement, and even trying to convince others to come out of retirement. But now we find ourselves unable to staff the centre adequately," he says.

"We are so sorry that it has come to this.

"This is not a problem we are able to fix by spending more but is a reflection of where our health system is at.

"It is a very sad day for our residents, their whanau and families, our staff and everyone in our community who have been involved in our operations over many decades.

"I appreciate this will come as a great shock and that it is a blow to the community - again, I am very sorry for that."

Te Whatu Ora (former DHB) has been supportive, providing relief staff when possible. Even so, finding the necessary staff to continue operating has not been possible.

Families will be given help to rehouse their loved ones through the local Needs Assessment and Service Coordination (NASC) organisation.

"Residents and families will not be left alone; we are here to work with them and Te Whatu Ora in their ongoing care and accommodation," Gallavin promises.

St Joseph's Home of Compassion had been in operation for more than 100 years, and the Upper Hutt rest home opened in 1933.

Source

• Scoop
• Stuff