Innovation and investment drives growth in regional aged care

It can be difficult achieving reward and recognition outside of Australia’s metropolitan bubbles. Yet for the third year running, the Apollo Care Alliance has represented the nation as a finalist at the 13th Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards. 

Although the regional provider didn’t take home the top gong for its category, ‘Innovation of the Year – Operational Management Solution’, it received the Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Contribution to Aged Care Innovation. 

Supporting 12 aged care communities across Australia, Apollo Care operates with a fairly unique decentralised management model. Each community is led by its Regional Service Managers (RSM) and local boards, with top-level support and guidance from executives, including Apollo Care’s own Chief Governance Officer Kylie Radburn, and external experts like Dr Richard Rosewarne, CEO of Applied Age Care Solutions.

That means local leaders have access to industry knowledge that would otherwise be inaccessible while contending with the vast array of challenges the aged care sector faces. 

Crucially, all of this information and guidance is central to its Operations Insights Suite (OIS), a system crafted and refined by Chief Operating Officer Barry Ashcroft. This was the system that earned a finalist award at the Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards.

“Each facility that we pick up in rural or regional Australia has its own legacy, has its own community to serve and there are differences. We select an RSM that suits the particular community because getting that role right is one of the most important decisions we can make,” Mr Ashcroft told Hello Leaders. 

“Every one of our RSMs is a qualified registered nurse, and we want them to concentrate on good care for the residents and we want them to lead the staff to deliver that good care. I don’t want them to be an analyst or a financial expert. I just want them to concentrate on what they should be doing and let’s demystify the other stuff for them.”

The OIS gives RSMs on-the-ground control of their community through analytics, easy-to-understand insights and a real-time KPI dashboard. It automates data processing, resident compliance and financial performance monitoring, minimising the workload and strengthening predictive analysis for things like risk management. 

Moving forward, an AI interface will be added to provide even more predictive analytics, with machine learning able to deliver actionable insights for each community. 

“Once you have the right person on site as the RSM and you focus your attention on them and help with support from subject matter experts and the OIS, it helps them to elevate the facility,” Mr Ashcroft added.

“They’re getting the support they need even though it’s remote. It’s there, it’s ready for them, and they can engage with it. CEO Stephen Becsi and I had a get together with the RSMs and we were quite taken aback when the vast majority said ‘We might not see you every other week, but we never feel alone’ and we thought that was pretty compelling.”

Ms Radburn, as Apollo Care’s Chief Governance Officer, is heavily involved in this support. Mr Ashcroft and Mr Becsi repeatedly praised her work around embedding information into the OIS as it became available during the ongoing reform journey.

“She has a monthly care governance meeting with the RSMs and they have a rotation of topics and learnings that are refined before we embed them in the systems. Everybody has a common understanding of what’s required and how to get there,” Mr Ashcroft said.

To sustainability, and beyond

Long term investment into the future of regional aged care isn’t easy. The standalone providers that have joined Apollo Care have typically faced major challenges with compliance, financial sustainability and/or governance and reform. 

There has been no quick fix with Mr Becsi explaining that it takes up to two years to transform a facility into a mature, sustainable site — something that used to take about six months.

Unfortunately, a tidal wave of governance, reform, additional responsibilities and targets, has all influenced decisions to find expertise and support from an organisation with scale.

“In regional Australia, they’re isolated and they might not have access to the wherewithal or even the ability to be able to keep up with this change. They’re making the decisions to come under the shelter of the bigger organisation that can put the resources into that governance, but still retain their identity,” Mr Becsi said.

“Regional Australia is parochial. They’re very proud. So we’ve kept the boards and the constitutions alive. We have an obligation, as the approved provider, to maintain the original objectives of the constitution which means all communities operate differently. 

“This distributed virtual management model in OIS is capturing all information and allowing us to keep that individuality alive.”

Not only is it keeping individuality alive, it’s helping communities thrive. Apollo Care improved financial sustainability by an average of 28% in 2024. It grew the permanent workforce by 30% and reduced overall agency usage to below 10% in March this year. Meanwhile, more than $10 million was invested into new resident suites, refurbished living spaces and affordable housing for staff.

Mr Becsi labelled it “sheer hard work”, although there’s plenty more to come. Apollo Care has invested heavily in accommodation, particularly for international staff. Yet with limited housing options in regional, rural or remote Australia, the goal is to build homes in greenfield developments. 

“You have to think about the future, too. Once we start building accommodation for staff and we establish a workforce that’s sustainable in these areas, they will likely find their own accommodation,” Mr Ashcroft added . 

“We have to be sure that we can still use that accommodation, so we will build it so we can repurpose that back to seniors or aged care accommodation if required.”

While this is a significant but necessary investment, it showcases that financial sustainability is paying off. Apollo Care has the means to reinvest in its communities, providing new roofs, upgraded private suites, buses for community outings or brand new dementia support units in regional settings that have never had access to specialised care services like this.

“This is the reward for RSMs doing a great job for their communities. This is about expanding the aged care community to deliver on what that community needs. It’s a great feeling,” Mr Ashcroft said.

“It’s the outcome of everything that we said theoretically could happen. We’re now able to deliver on it,” Mr Becsi added. 

“Our population is ageing and the baby boomer tsunami dictates that aged care needs to be addressed and supported. If you get it right, it takes pressure off primary and acute healthcare. Adding beds is a good thing and this is an exciting sector to be in.”