7 March 2022
Dear Whiddon Bourke, Wee Waa and Narrabri residents and families,
I wanted to write to you with an update on our Whiddon Walgett service. Last year, I wrote to the Walgett community in regards to the decline in demand for our aged care services in Walgett, that we have experienced in recent years. In doing so, we were seeking support from the community, and a better understanding of the aged care services needs in the local community.
For many years, Whiddon has heavily subsidised Whiddon Walgett, which is now costing Whiddon around a quarter of a million dollars annually, to keep the doors open. For a significant time now, we have experienced a decline in admissions to Whiddon Walgett, which is further compounded by the presence of a Multi-Purpose Service (MPS) in the area.
Despite our very best efforts and commitment to finding ways to continue to offer our services to the local community, the decline for our services remains. This means that after a decade of providing care to the Walgett community, it was with very heavy hearts, that we made the incredibly difficult decision to close the doors to Whiddon Walgett.
Our priority now is to do everything that we can to support our residents, families and employees at Whiddon Walgett at this challenging time. However, we want to reassure you that this decision does not impact any of our care homes or services in Bourke, Narrabri and Wee Waa. There are no plans to close these services, and in fact, we are excited to soon undertake a range of upgrades at some of these services.
We also want to reassure you that Whiddon is passionate about ensuring that older people in regional, rural and remote Australia have access to quality aged care services, so they can stay living in the communities they know and love. While we are very sad to see our care home in Walgett close, we do hope to be able to continue to support the wonderful community of Whiddon Walgett in some way in the future.
Yours Sincerely,
Chris Mamarelis
Whiddon CEO