The Board of McLaren Vale and Districts War Memorial Hospital after much consideration has come to a final decision to close the hospital and pursue a merger with not for profit aged care provider Kalyra to provide an aged care service at the facility.
The decision by the Board comes after all options to ensure the viability of the hospital had been exhausted.
In a letter to MP Leon Bignell, the Chair of the Board of Directors Chris Overland said that it had been a significant struggle to keep the hospital operating for a number of years.
“The support from the State Government has been critical to enabling us to continue operating, but it has come to the point where there are too many challenges to keep the hospital open.” he said.
“The combination of dwindling number of GPs to provide services, difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff in the face of workforce shortages across the nation, ageing infrastructure, as well as a range of other challenges mean that the hospital cannot continue.”
The Board went on to announce that the hospital will close on 30 June 2023.
However, at the same time, plans were announced to merge with Kalyra, which is part of the James Brown Memorial Trust. Kalyra is a local service that already provides residential aged care and retirement
villages in McLaren Vale.
McLaren Vale has an ageing demographic with almost 24% of the McLaren Vale population aged 65 and over. The transition of the hospital to aged care will provide much-needed new facilities in the local community.
Mr Overland says that the transition will also ensure that the hospital facility continues to be used to
provide important services for the community.
“This outcome will be positive for the McLaren Vale community. Currently few local people use the hospital, more likely to access the two major metro public and private hospitals in the Southern Suburbs and a local private surgical centre.”
In a statement posted to his Facebook page, MP Leon Bignell said that he was feeling mixed emotions.
“Firstly, I feel sadness for the hardworking staff at the hospital and hope that they can move across to government health contracts, stay on in their current roles, or be picked up by other local employers who are desperately seeking staff.”
“I feel gratitude for the board members and volunteers – past and present – who have kept the McLaren Vale Hospital going for more than 70 years.”
But, the MP states that he also feels excited for the possibilities that may come from the merger of the hospital with Kalyra aged care.
“Imagine that kitchen harnessing the local expertise and knowledge from our restaurants, producers and chefs and becoming a centre of excellence in providing high protein, top level food for older South Australians.”
“Imagine a GP clinic and allied health facility on site that caters for the modern era of General Practice. A centre that is even bigger than what is there now which entices the next generation of GPs to come and work in our region.
“Imagine if some of the new Kalyra homes on the site could be set aside for women over 50 in economic distress. This group of women is the fastest growing cohort of homeless people in SA.”
More News
