Benjamin Millar
Ballan Hospital will be closed and Ballan District Health & Care taken over by a new operator after the board deemed it “unviable” to continue.
The assets and operations of BDHC will transfer to new owner mecwacare from November 1, but the 10-bed hospital will be closed as part of the deal.
Board chair Lyn Gunnell said the decision to close the hospital after more than 50 years was not taken lightly.
“Operation of small, rural private hospitals is no longer viable, with many people opting out of private health insurance, economies of scale hard to achieve, and patients having easy access to Ballarat and western Melbourne hospitals,” she said.
“The hospital beds will be repurposed for other healthcare services.”
Ms Gunnell said the board felt not-for-profit mecwacare shared BDHC’s values, with a 62-year history of providing care.
Interim chief executive James McComb said a few workers will lose their jobs, but the majority of the 130 staff members will transfer to mecwacare with their full entitlements.
“We provide vital health and aged care services, and this agreement resolves years of financial uncertainty for the organisation,” he said.
“Our staff and residents now know that there will be a strong future for our services in Ballan.”
All aged care residents are guaranteed their existing arrangements.
The takeover comes after the state government provided an urgent $500,000 assistance package in 2018 to help keep the service’s doors open.
Mr McComb said the BDHC board had explored a range of options over the past couple of years to make the organisation more viable.
“We’ve made no secret of the fact that the organisation has experienced a situation all-too-familiar in regional towns, where the smaller scale of our operations has combined with a tougher regulatory environment to make services financially unviable,” he said.
“As we believe our role in the community is highly valued, we sought expressions of interest to find another operator with the scale, experience and capital to give our services a long-term future.”
These services include residential aged care, a retirement village, a GP Super Clinic, allied health services, home care packages, district nursing, a gym and hydrotherapy pool, and an opportunity shop.
