industry & policy
Inside the latest aged care mergers
Providers join forces for “greater
stability” in the aged care sector. ACI: Was there much trepidation or
worry among staff?
By Dallas Bastian SC: With any merger, staff are naturally
going to be worried about their roles and
future with the organisation. To help with
morale, we tried to be as open and honest
as possible with staff from the moment we
announced we were exploring a merger
with Southern Cross Care (Vic). We did
extensive consultation with staff regarding
any potential changes to their roles, and this
was carried out in stages. Of course, we did
not get it right all the time, but I do believe
we managed it as best we could.
SH: Benetas and Macedon Ranges
Health (MRH) management and staff
worked closely together prior to and during
the amalgamation process to ensure staff
were kept informed every step of the way.
Just prior to 1 July, Benetas conducted a
staff pulse survey to help gauge sentiment
of the amalgamation process. The results
showed that, to date, the respondents
were feeling positive, with 94 per cent of
respondents believing the amalgamation
has gone well so far and 92 per cent
believing it will be good for clients.
F
our Victorian aged care providers
have recently become two.
Mercy Health and Southern
Cross Care (Vic) became fully integrated
on 1 July, the same day Benetas and
Macedon Ranges Health amalgamated.
Adjunct Professor Stephen Cornelissen,
chief executive of Mercy Health Group,
said the new organisation’s years of
experience will enable it to better respond
to the changing needs of Australia’s
ageing population and public funding
arrangements.
Southern’s 12 aged care homes have
been rebranded as Mercy Health. For
now, home care services will continue
to operate under the Southern Cross
Care (Vic) brand.
Meanwhile, Benetas and Macedon
Ranges Health have spent more than
seven months working towards their
amalgamation, with all facilities to retain
their branding.
Benetas has commenced a process to
invest $1.2 million into upgrading facilities,
while a further $60 million will be spent
over the next eight years to upgrade,
expand and redevelop Macedon’s facilities
and services.
Aged Care Insite spoke with Cornelissen
from Mercy Health and Benetas chief
executive Sandra Hills to find out more
about merging providers and how they
navigated staff concerns and client
expectations.
12 agedcareinsite.com.au
How did you communicate the decision
and all the subsequent steps with staff?
SC: Our aim was to keep Mercy
Health and Southern Cross Care (Vic)
employees informed at every stage of the
merger process. We did this through:
• fortnightly (at least) email updates
• a dedicated email address for staff to ask
and have questions answered, and to
share their feedback
• roadshows by the leadership team to
all Southern Cross Care (Vic) aged care
homes and community services offices.
SH: The decision to amalgamate was
based in part on an MRH member vote in
the first instance, and a highly successful
engagement process was conducted
to ensure all stakeholders, including
staff, were appropriately informed and
understood the proposal.
Once a successful member vote
occurred, representatives from MRH and
Benetas’s executive teams developed an
engagement and communication plan
that included regular briefing sessions for
employees, and management continued to
maintain a strong presence and availability
on site at MRH to promptly assist with any
employment-related queries. This has been
supported by a dedicated intranet site and
regular newsletter updates, including video
blogs from management to ensure staff are
fully informed.
Stephen, what else was chief among your
priorities in the past 18 months?
SC: Our main priority was to ensure a
smooth transition to the one organisation so
there would be minimum disruption to our
aged care residents and home care clients.
This transition involved our frontline
and support teams and included modifying
existing systems and processes such
as models of care, supplier agreements,
workforce needs, payroll and digital
networks.
What challenges come with rebranding?
SC: All Southern Cross Care (Vic) residents
and clients received a letter after the
merger was announced advising them that
the management and name of the service
may change, however their level of care
would not.