Carol Altmann – The Terrier

It’s 200 days since the plug was pulled on Lyndoch Living CEO Doreen Power and we still don’t know if Ms Power remains on the payroll, remains “on leave”, or why she disappeared so rapidly in the first place.

Ms Power’s position within Lyndoch is one of many, many unanswered questions that still hang over our community owned aged care home and which we will continue to pursue – one by one – until we have all the answers.

We will continue to pursue these answers because we have a right to know, particularly when – under the direction of Ms Power and a complicit board – Lyndoch has suffered its greatest crisis since it was started by the community more than 60 years ago.

This crisis has touched every corner of Lyndoch, from the care of elderly and vulnerable residents and retirees, to the care and wellbeing of the staff, to its financial viability, and its reputation.

So many people have been left traumatised.

It’s a long, slow road back and we all want to see Lyndoch survive and succeed, but that doesn’t include giving a free pass to those who sat at the top and steered Lyndoch into the iceberg.

The focus now is on accountability and demanding full and truthful information.

So let’s start at the top.

Ms Power, for all intents and purposes, is a public servant.

I am reliably informed that her total salary package (salary, car, super) is around the $310,000 a year mark, so she is one of the most highly paid public servants in Warrnambool.

If Ms Power has been “on leave” for 200 days, she is still drawing on this salary package…for doing what, exactly?

As this is public money – the equivalent of around $1000 a day – we have a right to know.

It’s not good enough for Lyndoch to keep rolling out the line that Ms Power is on leave and we must respect her privacy.

The latter is not a problem, but we want to know what Ms Power is doing for her salary, is she suing Lyndoch, is she fighting to come back? Or is she actually in the Bahamas on an extended holiday? I doubt it.

I’m hoping to shed some further light on the CEO’s status later this week.

This is the beginning of my second, deep and slow dive into Lyndoch where I will follow all the breadcrumbs back, because it’s astonishing that despite all that has happened, all that has been uncovered and reported and confirmed, not one person has been held to account, accepted responsibility, or apologised to the people of Lyndoch and the wider community.

Not one.

This seems to be a worrying trend.

A Royal Commission in Brisbane into abuse within a disability service commented last week that:  “The board … has issued no public statement or statement to staff regretting the failures of the past and acknowledging responsibility. The board remains largely unchanged.”

“What seems to me to be striking … is nobody seems to have been held accountable,” Commissioner Ronald Sackville said, in a report on the ABC.

Sound familiar?

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

The crisis around Lyndoch Living continues to deepen.

The following is a statement from the former Chair of Plenty Valley Community Health, Marcia O’Neill, where the CEO of Lyndoch Living Doreen Power worked briefly before being employed by Lyndoch.

Ms O’Neill has called upon the Lyndoch board to resign, and for an administrator to be appointed urgently.

Ms O’Neill is an experienced director and board chair, and a Fellow Certified Practicing Accountant, (FCPA) which recognises global experts in the field of accounting and business. When people the calibre of Ms O’Neill say the Lyndoch board must go, it must go:

“I respect and thank Percy Eccles for his courage in speaking up and I certainly understand his fear from past experiences in dealing with Ms Power when I was Chair of Plenty Valley Community Health (PVCH).

I see history repeating at Lyndoch Living, it’s not the first time, however in this frightful case the damage has been prolonged and action by the Board seriously lacking.

Fortunately, there has been tenacious reporting – which was courageous in the face of threats of litigation – providing some transparency by a local journalist which has documented the issues, decline and terrible harm being perpetrated at Lyndoch Living.

This reporting incurred threats of litigation personally against The Terrier and it remains to be seen if this was financed by Lyndoch Living.

Further, I believe Percy Eccles’ comments about the Boards’ relationship with the CEO, the comments ring very true, and if so, there is a breach of Directors’ Duty. They should resign.

Ms Power’s time at PVCH was very short lived.

PVCH Board consisted of experienced professionals united by courage and integrity with a sound understanding of Directors’ Duties and Corporate Law, and expertise in Corporate Governance.

To my certain knowledge, the true events at PVCH were omitted from Ms Power’s application (to Lyndoch Living) and in the reference checks submitted by the recruitment agent. This too needs to be investigated.

The same search agent was involved when PVCH recruited Ms Power from Seymour.

This was before I became chair of the PVCH, but to my certain knowledge the true events of what happened at Seymour were also not presented to the selection panel.

Members hold board members accountable and Lyndoch’s exclusion of general members means there is no recourse or method of accountability unless the regulator steps in and appoints an administrator.

In this case, it’s urgent.

Companies Limited By Guarantee take millions in Federal and State funding and must be held to account.

Sadly, I understand from experience that there will likely be quite protracted and expensive proceedings ensuing, and my thoughts are with the present and past staff and the residents and families of Lyndoch Living and the people of Warrnambool.”

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

Lyndoch staff were today sent a message from board chair Sue Cassidy announcing that CEO Doreen Power is on ​”​annual leave​”​.

The chair may be hamstrung, legally, by what she can say at this point, but “annual leave” only creates confusion and uncertainty for staff.

The same statement was made to the local paper and explains nothing.

This is how Lyndoch has rolled for the past four years: full of uncertainty, mistrust, confusion and “who do we believe?”.

So, in the face of this “who do we believe?”, I again defer to my rock solid sources​ ​who have never let me down these past four years while ​we have navigated ​a​ lonely and torrid river toward the truth​.

I can tell you this: Ms Power went to work yesterday and was gone from her office by 4pm, apparently lugging two large bags. They were not suitcases packed for a trip to Port Douglas.

Also in the building yesterday afternoon were board Chair Ms Cassidy and Treasurer Kane Grant who met with the CEO.

They were not checking on her holiday plans.

What I understand is at that meeting, the CEO was given the option to resign, or an independent investigation would be launched into the many allegations surrounding her “management style”.

The board would then use the results of this investigation to make a decision on her future.

Such an investigation would protect the board from any claims by Ms Power of unfair dismissal, because – as we know – the board has fully supported the CEO and everything she has done.

Ms Power now has a choice while on “annual leave”: resign and, most likely, be paid out for the remainder of her contract OR remain on leave and be mired in a full-blown investigation.

But why did the board act NOW? Why not last week? Or last month? Or last year?

My sources tell me there was movement from ​health worker unions and WorkSafe that was about to hit the board with a sledgehammer.

Worksafe and the State Health Minister have been watching Lyndoch closely, and my sources tell me that Wednesday, the day before Ms Power was confronted by the board members, another long list of complaints had been formally lodged with Worksafe by a lawyer.

There can only be so many complaints and allegations about over-work, intimidation, bullying, toxicity and pressure to “do certain things”, before the hammer swings.

The board has legal obligations around staff safety which it must uphold or it may face serious penalties as individuals, including fines and jail.

The State Minister also has a duty of care, as Lyndoch Living is contracted by the State Government to run its state-funded beds at Lyndoch.

This explains a lot.

We all know the seven board members didn’t wake up yesterday morning and suddenly decide the CEO was not the same person they had backed all the way for seven years.

Just three weeks ago, the board refused to let our local MP speak confidentially at its board meeting about the CEO.

But yesterday, after our local MP spoke about the CEO in Parliament on Tuesday, they were all action stations.

Turn out they could be all running for the life boats because with WorkSafe now heavily on the case, it’s either the CEO, or it could be them.

Trouble is, the board has lost community trust and credibility.

We lost faith in them a year ago, not only because they have continually backed the source of all the toxicity and troubles, but they have treated the community with contempt.

They must go.

All of ​those responsible for enabling the culture that has almost killed Lyndoch cannot be a part of its ​healing and its ​renewal.

The next Lyndoch AGM is in October: all board positions should be advertised now, for a complete spill and a new start.

We, as a community, deserve nothing less than a clean sweep.​

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Why didn’t Matthew meet Sue?

A golden opportunity to add significant political pressure to the Lyndoch Living board went begging last week.

Matthew Guy is the State leader of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition.

Sue Cassidy is the chair of Lyndoch Living…and a member of the local Liberal Party branch.

Despite this direct political relationship, when Mr Guy visited Warrnambool last week to pump up support ahead of the November state election, he did not meet with Ms Cassidy or any other board members about Lyndoch, which is surely one of the most concerning issues facing this electorate.

Mr Guy, on invitation from South-West MP Roma Britnell, instead met privately with Lyndoch resident family members, ex Lyndoch staff and members of Keep Lyndoch Living, to hear their concerns first hand.

These are the stories we have been shouting from the rooftops for the past four years and which I had hoped Mr Guy might know about by now.

He obviously didn’t and while I have no doubt Mr Guy conveyed genuine shock, concern and compassion to this private meeting, nothing has come of it since.

Instead Mr Guy, the next day, called for the board to be more transparent, echoing the same call made by Ms Britnell six weeks ago at the Lyndoch rally.

It has made no difference.

Lyndoch ignored Ms Britnell then and it has ignored Mr Guy now.

The board has not blinked: there has been no response from the chair.

A memo from the CEO to staff, posted here on Friday, refused to accept that community concerns go beyond a media beat up and there was no mention of Mr Guy.

I asked Ms Britnell why she didn’t strike at the heart of the matter and set up a meeting between the Opposition Leader and the Lyndoch chair?

Mr Guy could have asked Ms Cassidy directly:

Why is Lyndoch Living ignoring the community?

What are you doing about it?

Ms Britnell said she felt it was more important for Mr Guy to hear firsthand from the community.

“The meeting was constructive and feedback I have received from those who attended has been very positive,” she said.

“There will always be differing opinions on what the best course of action is on any given issue at any given time. If I got it wrong on this occasion, I accept that.

“However, the community can be assured that my focus will remain the same – to ensure we have the confidence and assurance the many issues that have been raised are being properly addressed.”

Ms Britnell reiterated that she didn’t “have confidence that the board is doing enough to address the concerns about transparency and workplace culture”.

“Warrnambool and wider south-west community want Lyndoch Living to thrive: I will continue to do everything I can to ensure that happens,” she said.

It’s a fine sentiment, but for all of the heat and light around Lyndoch, nothing has changed.

Our local Liberal MP and the Opposition leader are being ignored.

And the endorsed candidate for Labor, former Warrnambool City Councillor Kylie Gaston, has not said a word about the Lyndoch crisis: not now, not ever.

Nobody has gone for the jugular and demanded the board be sacked, other than us: the community.

We have done it. We have stood up with our slingshot against the Goliath and demanded the board go….and take the CEO with them.

We can see the root of this problem, where it started, and how to fix it.

This is why I continue to poke, prod, probe and challenge those with the power to act, because the community is doing its part – we are working hard – and we will not give up.

[The online petition runs until the end of August. https://tinyurl.com/3nwac5nc]