Carol Altmann – The Terrier

The plot thickens around the departure of the Lyndoch Living CEO, Doreen Power, with speculation that Ms Power’s sudden exit up the Princes Highway is linked to financial issues surrounding Lyndoch that are now under investigation.

I’ve spent the past nine days digging into exactly why the axe fell so quickly on the CEO last Thursday week (Aug 4) after years of allegations about Ms Power’s management style fell on deaf ears and the Lyndoch board continued to back her to the hilt.

As was reported here, Ms Power was confronted by board chair Sue Cassidy and treasurer Kane Grant and, soon after, left her office armed with two bags of belongings.

As was also reported here, the day before Ms Power left, WorkSafe had received a long list of complaints about Lyndoch lodged by a law firm on behalf of the complainants.

This could have been the final blow.

But no.

I have since learned there is mounting concern about Lyndoch’s financial position, including whether information relied upon to build Lyndoch’s financial picture has been accurate.

These concerns include:

the financial impact of changes to the payment system for home care packages, with Lyndoch no longer having access to a big pot of home care funds ($2.5 million as of March 2021) that sat in its bank account;

whether this big pot of funds for home care packages was used to pay for other services – say, for example, toward the new medical clinic – in the hope it could be later topped up by home care clients (a Ponzi-style approach);

the financial impact of much greater competition in home care packages, which has gouged Lyndoch’s home client list;

the financial impact of having between 50 and 55 empty beds across Lyndoch and May Noonan Hostel – unprecedented;

concerns about the impact of rising interest rates on the $12 million borrowed by Lyndoch to fund its new $22m medical clinic;

concerns about the financial impact of having five apartments for sale in the Waterfront Living complex;

the difficulty of selling these apartments amid concerns about the deteriorating condition of their exteriors;

concerns Lyndoch must legally pay out the owners and/or estate of these apartments after a certain time, regardless of whether the apartment has sold;

concerns raised by residents within Waterfront Living about the location and use of their annual maintenance fee/sinking fund.

That’s a lot to take in, but it all comes down to cash flow: what Lyndoch expected to bring in, what it has to pay out.

And the terrible possibility facing the Lyndoch board is that all is not what it seemed.

Two important things to say here:

First is that residential accommodation bonds are guaranteed by the Federal Government, so – regardless of where this ends – these are protected by law and residents and their families can take comfort they are not at risk of losing their money.

Second is that the resignation of the most recent Chief Financial Officer was clearly yet another warning bell.

In fact four Chief Financial Officers leaving in four years is not just a warning bell, but a big loud hooter that wakes everyone in the night.

If what I am being told now is correct, and I believe it is, then what we have always feared is coming to pass.

We tried to warn the board and they didn’t listen.

Collectively, this house-of-cards scenario was raised more than 18 months ago on this page, by the Terrier, then by former Chief Financial officer Allan Conway, and then by the Keep Lyndoch Living group which formed because of unanswered questions over Lyndoch’s finances.

Mr Conway set the alarm bells off, but nobody listened.

The Keep Lyndoch Living team led by Jim Burke and Prof James Dunbar tried to raise the alarm, but nobody listened.

And The Terrier – 162 stories later – tried to raise the alarm, and nobody with the power to act, listened.

But the board is listening now and so it must, because they are responsible for not asking the hard questions.

It is now incumbent upon the board chair Sue Cassidy and treasurer Kane Grant to step up and tell us what is going on.

They need to assure the community that all is well, that none of what I have raised here is correct, that Lyndoch’s finances are exactly as they should be, and that Ms Power is on annual leave because she decided to take a holiday to Port Douglas.

Now is the time for plain speaking, not bullshite about annual leave.

Now is the time for absolute, rock solid, honest truth.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Former Lyndoch Living board member Percy Eccles has called for the entire board to “consider their positions” in the face of rising pressure for them to resign.

Mr Eccles, who served on the board for almost 10 years before his resignation last year, was speaking after CEO Doreen Power was stood down last Thursday.

He said he believed the board was “led by the CEO” and that they followed her direction, rather than the reverse.

“If the information I have been reading (about the CEO being stood down) is correct, then it’s a very good day for Lyndoch,” he said.

“I call upon all of the board members to consider their positions, because it’s my belief that they were led by the CEO, rather than the CEO being led by the board.”

Mr Eccles said it was one of the greatest pleasures of his life when he served as a Lyndoch board member in the early years, but that this changed dramatically in recent years.

“As a board member for almost 10 years, it was one of the joys of my life to serve the people and the staff, especially when Lyndoch was under the leadership of former CEO Rhys Boyle,” he said.

“But in the few years prior to my resignation, I have never been more disappointed in the board’s direction,” Mr Eccles said.

Mr Eccles has been unable to speak publicly until now due to fears of legal action by the highly litigious CEO.

Following reports on The Terrier that the CEO has departed, however, Mr Eccles said he felt able to speak up.

While Mr Eccles could not comment on specific discussions within board meetings, it’s understood one of the many issues he pursued vigorously while on the board was a breakdown of how much was spent each year on lawyers and consultants.

A line-by-line breakdown was never provided.

[I have also attempted to obtain this breakdown, but the figures are exempt from Freedom of Information due to Lyndoch now being a quasi-private company.]

It’s widely known within Lyndoch, however, that a handful of highly paid consultants have been contracted multiple times for their services.

One of these includes a consultant who had an existing relationship with Lyndoch and was on the selection panel when the CEO was selected in 2014.

That particular consultant, who is not from Warrnambool, has since been employed multiple times and was a regular attendee at board meetings. It’s understood this consultant was paid $3000 a day.

It’s also known that, in recent years, Lyndoch changed its legal firm from a local based firm to a top law firm in Melbourne who, among other things, was paid by Lyndoch to launch personal defamation actions on behalf of the CEO and another corporate staff member.

Mr Eccles was also one of three board members on the selection panel when Ms Power was appointed in 2014.

Mr Eccles said he did not agree with the choice of Ms Power and made this known to the panel at the time.

When the other two board members decided Ms Power was the best applicant, however, he signed off on the appointment for the sake of cohesion.

Ms Power’s tenure has seen a dramatic decline in residential care at Lyndoch, largely due to a mass exodus of experienced staff, many of whom tried to speak up about the toxic culture that had developed.

The board did nothing in response to these concerns.

Lyndoch chair Sue Cassidy told media and staff Ms Power was on “annual leave” as of last Thursday. It’s still not clear exactly what prompted the board to suddenly stand Ms Power down.

Pressure is now mounting for the board to follow, with almost 2000 signatures in an online and offline petition that began before Ms Power’s departure.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

The Keep Lyndoch Living community group has today launched a petition via the State Parliament, asking for the removal of the Lyndoch board.

You can read the full petition and sign it here: https://tinyurl.com/3nwac5nc

Sign it. Share it. Any Victorian resident can sign.

The petition to the Legislative Council asks for the State Government to work with the Federal Government to “take all possible steps” to replace the board with an administrator.

The administrator would remain until a new Lyndoch board can be elected via public nominations.

It has come to this.

Six weeks after more than 400 people gathered in the cold to call for greater transparency from the Lyndoch Living board, there has been nothing of the sort.

And judging by the non-sensical and insulting comments of the board Chair Sue Cassidy on ABC radio last week, the community will remain cut off, despite our many concerns around the care of our elderly and vulnerable.

The board has no interest or intention in engaging with the general community.

Trust in this board is now completely broken.

I hope this petition draws thousands of signatures between now and when it closes on 31 August.

It will then be tabled in Parliament by our local Member of the Legislative Council Bev McArthur, who delivered a statement to the rally on 5 June and who has continued to offer her full support to this cause.

A paper version of the petition will also be available at a public sign-up on the Warrnambool Civic Green next Sunday, 24 July, from 11am to 1pm. I plan to be there to help out.

Copies will also be available for you to take away to gather physical signatures from those unable to sign online.

All of the signatures – online and on paper – will be collated into one total.

Sign it. Share it. The message is clear: this board has to go.

[Disclosure: I assisted Keep Lyndoch Living to lodge this petition with the Legislative Council to ensure it met all the requirements.]

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

The Lyndoch Living board – metaphorically speaking – slammed MP Roma Britnell at its meeting on Tuesday night but, in so doing, exposed its contempt for the community she serves.

Ms Britnell asked board chair Sue Cassidy if she, Roma, could address the meeting. She could.

As I understand it, there was also a guarantee that Ms Britnell would have a chance to speak to the board openly and confidentially (in camera), without the CEO in the room.

This didn’t happen.

Ms Britnell, armed with concerns from her constituents, arrived to find there was no ‘in camera’ meeting and if she had something to say, she would say it to the board and the CEO.

Things did not go well.

The board pounced and – metaphorically speaking – sent her packing.

Ms Cassidy, of course, has form on this sort of thing.

Yesterday, ironically, it was two years to the day since Ms Cassidy, as a one-term Warrnambool City Councillor, conspired with Crs Kylie Gaston, Mike Neoh and David Owen and threw the CEO Peter Schneider out the door.

Ms Cassidy, Ms Gaston and their two former colleagues are all still under active investigation by the Local Government Inspectorate for that act of bastardry, which resulted in an expensive and ugly court battle for Warrnambool ratepayers and a victory for Mr Schneider.

One of Mr Schneider’s senior employees, City Manager Andrew Paton, is on the Lyndoch board: the board which – metaphorically speaking – has just beaten up our local state MP behind the shelter sheds. That connection must be getting awkward.

On Tuesday night “from 5.35pm to 5.50pm” – as recorded in the board’s autopsy report posted to the Lyndoch Facebook page – Ms Britnell had a first-hand taste of what so many others have endured from Lyndoch’s hierarchy these past five years.

The bodies are piled high.

All of those experienced staff who have been cast out, had their reputations trashed, and been blamed for Lyndoch’s failings.

All of the families, who have tentatively tried to speak up, only to be bullied back into silence.

And the residents who have tried to raise concerns, including one recently who was effectively told they could always move elsewhere if they weren’t happy.

And now it’s our turn. The community is the enemy. We are the problem.

The person elected to represent this community took our concerns right to the heart of Lyndoch and got nowhere.

There will be no greater transparency.

We will not be allowed to become members of Lyndoch Living.

Lyndoch is no longer ours, but theirs.

Rather than listen to the people, the board is too busy congratulating itself for passing re-accreditation while Lyndoch remains in breach of multiple aged care standards across the nursing home, hostel and May Noonan. What a terrific system.

But the community isn’t stupid. We know a Captain Ahab when we see one and the board may wish to cast its eyes back to Seymour Health in 2012 to see how it ends: CEO gone, board gone.

It took the good people of Seymour seven years to win their bruising battle.

We’re up to year seven, and we’re right in the thick of it.

Punches are flying, teeth are being knocked out, eyes are blackened, but I can tell you this:

We’re not giving up.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Where does this end? Lyndoch Living has failed another string of national standards, this time in the care of its most vulnerable.

The Lyndoch Nursing Home – the high-care section of Lyndoch – has failed five of the eight standards in the latest audit by the national watchdog.

Last September, the nursing home failed three of the eight measures.

Now the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission report released online last night (5/7) reveals it has failed five.

This cannot be dressed up as success.

While thankfully some of the more shocking failings from last year – around pain, wound management and restrictive practices – have been addressed, the nursing home has gone backwards.

The whole of Lyndoch is going backwards.

Last week, I reported the Hostel had also failed multiple standards; a first in its history. The May Noonan Hostel in Terang is also in breach.

And once again, staffing is the key problem, with the needs of high-care residents falling through the gaps.

As I read this latest report, I remind myself that behind every case study is a real person; a vulnerable person living in Lake Lodge or the Audrey Prider Centre.

It’s distressing to read of the resident who experienced a “choking episode” at lunch, with no follow up assessment by a Registered Nurse, as required.

The resident’s GP was also not notified until this failing was pointed out by the audit team.

And it’s distressing to read of the resident who lost 8.2 kg over 3 months, prompting a referral to specialists and a care plan, which was then not followed through.

There is simply not enough staff to do the work required.

It’s not just me saying this.

The report found “a majority of staff, (residents) and representatives expressed concerns” about the staff shortages and the impact this was having on managing risks such as weight loss, falls and swallowing difficulties.

Staff shortages also affected residents’ enjoyment of daily life.

“Overall, sampled (residents) did not consider that they get the services and supports for daily living that are important for their health and well-being and that enable them to do the things they want to do,” the report says.

You can’t say it any more plainly: Lyndoch is failing in its core business.

We know the hard-working staff do their best, but Lyndoch has lost truckloads of experienced staff these past four years, and it’s showing.

All three arms of Lyndoch are now in breach, including the May Noonan Hostel in Terang.

All of this makes my head hurt and my heart ache.

You must feel the same way, especially after watching the train wreck unfold for almost four years.

The facts are now there for all to see.

Yet the board remains silent and, together with the CEO, are leading Lyndoch Living further and further away from what we expect as a community.

Where is the line in the sand?

Where are the consequences for failing our elderly and vulnerable? Where does the buck stop and with who?

A month ago, we gathered as a community and asked the Lyndoch board for transparency, accountability and action.

We are still waiting. There is a Lyndoch board meeting next Tuesday. It needs to put an end to this sorry chapter.