Regional aged care on the brink: Gummun Place fights for survival

For 16 residents living in Merriwa, a small town in the Upper Hunter Shire of New South Wales, their security is reaching a tipping point.

In late-2024, the Upper Hunter Shire Council’s Mayor, Maurice Collison, wrote to the Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler, for urgent help.

Gummun Place Hostel was haemorrhaging money. Despite having just 16 residents, it incurred annual losses of over $400,000.

Ongoing conversations with the Department of Health and Aged Care resulted in nothing. An expression of interest (EOI) pitch to aged care providers failed to garner any serious support — Gummun Place is seen as too small and too challenging to save.

While no decision has been made regarding the closure of Gummun Place, the available options for survival are dwindling. 

Despite this, Councillor Troy Stolz is making a major pitch to save the Council-run aged care home. Cr Stolz has launched a Change.org petition to elevate the cause to the government’s radar. 

He is calling on the government to urgently intervene with critical funding that would save it from closure. He also wants the government to reevaluate its funding model for regional and rural aged care providers so that it can provide more tailored financial support.

“The government has failed to acknowledge that it is tougher in the bush. Unfortunately everything we do now comes with a cost analysis because costs have increased to run these facilities,” Cr Stolz told Hello Leaders.

“The issues at Gummun Place have been lurking for a few years and have come to a crossroad now. The government knows we need the money to keep it going, and we need another provider to take over. But there’s a stalemate.

“We’re playing with people’s lives and livelihoods here. Is it unfair to ask the government to show some compassion and give these people some dignity, equality and certainty?”

A common problem in regional Australia

Regional and rural aged care providers are typically closing due to four overarching problems: financial losses, regulatory pressures, staff shortages and outdated infrastructure. The combination of these issues are often hard to overcome without government intervention or scale and support from a larger provider.

Over the last few years, the likes of Southern Cross Care (Bombala and Swansea, NSW), Churches of Christ Queensland (Inglewood, QLD), Mercy Services (Singleton, NSW) and Carinity Summit Cottages (Mount Morgan, QLD) have been forced to close down sites.

The loss of Mercy Services’ Singleton aged care home also occurred within the Upper Hunter Shire.

Mayor Collison, who has been a part of the council for 14 years, said Gumman Place Hostel has always contended with ‘alarm bells’ that could signal the end. 

“Every year in our budget, it’s getting dearer and dearer to keep the service going, as it is in a lot of our businesses. Unfortunately, some of our businesses are losing money. It’s a great service for the community but a decision has to be made in the near future,” Mayor Collison shared. 

“It’s getting harder to keep up with the rules, regulations and changes. The department said we must have registered nurses 24/7 but we can’t find them locally. We have to source them from other areas. It is very challenging. But we do know it’s a very important piece of infrastructure for Merriwa.”

Mayor Collison said the council approached the Department of Health and Aged Care for additional support in attracting potential providers. However, after discovering that it had already completed a thorough EOI, the department made no further efforts to help.

He acknowledged that the challenges are massive for any provider that would step in, with last year’s figure of $400,000 closer to $600,000–$700,000 in losses. Overcoming these losses while also redeveloping the tired 30-year-old facility would be difficult for any provider.

However, he is hopeful that the council can continue to support local residents with Gummun Place as it is a community-driven facility servicing a town that truly needs it. Yet without sustained long-term financial support, the future looks bleak.

“Unless we can get some long-term funding from somewhere, and security around that funding, there will be some hard decisions,” he said.

“The building’s ageing, it’s not keeping up with the rules and regulations of what we need to have. Without long-term support it’s only going to push the issue down the road.

“I’d love someone to come in with an expression of interest. They wouldn’t have to pay us very much to lease the facility — we could even give them the building — as long as they keep the service going. But at this stage those businesses aren’t out there.”

The petition pushing for an end to the stalemate

Cr Stolz’s petition is a plea for support for his very own community. A Merriwa local, the councillor knows just how valuable it is.

Established in the 1990s, the land was donated by the Egan family, and the community rallied to build the hostel. Many residents have donated their own money over the years to keep it going. 

His own experiences with cancer — he was diagnosed with Stage 4 esophageal and bone cancer three years ago — has also heightened his understanding of the value of accessible health care. 

“Health and aged care services are so spread out here. I go to Muswellbrook which is an hour away for my chemotherapy. Blood tests, specialists appointments, they could be hundreds and hundreds of kilometres away,” he shared. 

“That’s my fear with taking this important part of the jigsaw puzzle out — you might be displacing local community members hundreds of kilometres away from their loved ones. It affects the family, but it also affects the community. Some of these people have put Merriwa on the map. 

“Due to complex compliance and funding models and operating costs, may have to take that away from them. That’s extremely disappointing and frustrating from my perspective.”

Cr Stolz believes that opportunity is on the horizon, though. There is enough land to build a larger aged care home that would ensure a financially viable future for any provider. There is flexibility to return to a low-care model, or to embrace the need for aged care services that support older adults with higher care needs.

All he asks for is some certainty so that regional Australia doesn’t lose another invaluable home.

“Don’t go shutting down our aged care facilities. We need variety in this jigsaw puzzle. Pull Gummun Place out and that’s a big piece missing out of the community,” he added.