10-plus year fight for an aged care home in Regional VIC town Wedderburn goes on
“I’m in the early 80s (and) my wife's nearly 80. We’ve lived here for nearly 50 years and we’d like to stay here as long as we possibly can," Lance Ward told ABC
With over 50% of its population aged over 60, Wedderburn Lions Club knows the town urgently needs an aged care home but doesn’t possess the ability to operate one.
“I’m in the early 80s (and) my wife's nearly 80. We’ve lived here for nearly 50 years and we’d like to stay here as long as we possibly can," Lance Ward told ABC. “Each other country town that’s in our vicinity, and they are in excess of 30 kilometres of one another, they have an aged care facility.”
Lance’s wife Wendy said she felt “insecure”, knowing they would have to leave the town if they needed residential aged care.
“We would lose contact with every friend, probably, because they’re all aged and they wouldn’t be able to travel,” she said.
The Lions Club had land allocated for an aged care home but realised it needed funding, that the Australian Government will not fund it and did not fully understand how to obtain a bed licence. It then looked at the Victorian Government’s supported residential services program and discovered it was unviable.
