By NOEL MURPHY
A PETITION to save Portarlington aged care home Ann Nichol House has landed in state parliament.
Bellarine MP Lisa Neville tabled the petition amid a furious community backlash to a Bellarine Community Health (BCH) plan to sell the home despite earlier assuring the public it was not for sale.
Ms Neville said a stand-off while BCH undertook further due diligence on the sale had left families uncertain whether loved ones would be ejected from the facility.
“It’s a worry for them that an announcement could be made any day, maybe tomorrow, maybe in a couple of months,” she told the Independent after tabling the 1360-signature petition.
“It’s disappointing that as late as a couple of weeks before saying they were going to sell it they were telling people, ‘No, no, no, everything’s the same’.
“People feel very betrayed that they changed their mind.”
The petition calls for Health Minister David Davis to urgently intervene, citing deep community concern.
“The minister must act now and call a halt to the process so that the residents and the broader community can be consulted and all the options considered,” Ms Neville said.
“The recent rally reflected community distress and anger and the proposed sale has also been condemned by (Geelong’s) council and Cr Helene Camerron, mayor of Borough of Queenscliff.”
Portarlington Community Association convenor John Turner said the Bellarine Peninsula’s only public not-for-profit residential aged care facility should not be sold to a private company until BCH had explored every other option.
“Private companies have to make a profit and provide a return to their shareholders,” he said.
“What does this mean for the many residents who can’t afford private care? Do they have to leave the Bellarine and all that’s familiar to them?”
