Carol Altmann – The Terrier

Meet Marie Bird, another highly skilled member of our community who has been locked out of joining Lyndoch Living.

Marie is among the 115 people who have been denied the right to become a simple member – not even a board member – of Lyndoch, our community owned aged care home.

Her application, like that of experienced nurse Kate Sloan who I wrote about last week, was rejected by the board without consideration or comment.

Let me tell you a little about Marie, who has lived in Warrnambool for 24 years.

She is a highly successful businesswoman (The Bird Group), a volunteer, philanthropist, a former member of various boards and committees, and currently the human resources director of her business involving the management of more than 500 staff.

On top of this, Marie has had personal experience in building community links with aged care.

In 1985, Marie set up an adult learning program in Port and South Melbourne that included close contact with the SouthPort Aged Care Community Nursing Home.

“The nursing home had an open door policy towards the community, resulting in some amazing opportunities for its residents,” Marie told me.

Through her work as an Outreach Community Education Officer with Prahran TAFE, Marie introduced a program that allowed the nursing home residents – along with people, who for whatever reason, were housebound – to re-engage in learning.

“The strength of this program, which went on for many years after I left my job, came from the local community’s involvement…which included the SouthPort Aged Care Nursing Home,” Marie says.

“This experience has stayed with me for more than 30 years, so to think Lyndoch Living – who until recent times nurtured this model of operation – has now shut itself off from its community just saddens me no end, hence my desire to see Lyndoch remain as a community based facility.”

In a normal world, Lyndoch would welcome Marie – with all of her skills and all of her business nous – as a member.

But no, Lyndoch doesn’t do normal.

Her application, like all the others, was metaphorically dumped straight into the bin.

The board made this decision.

So why would Lyndoch chair Susan Cassidy, hairdresser and owner of Unisexcuts, reject Marie Bird?

Why did deputy chair Kerry Nelson, the former (now retired) CEO of MPower, think Marie was a bad choice?

And treasurer Kane Grant, who works for Sinclair & Wilson? What was his reasoning?

And retired Deakin University academic Prof Rob Wallis?

And former nurse educator Lorraine Milenik? What were her concerns?

And Ron Page, an operations manager with the Australian Dairy Farmers Corp?

And last, but not least, why would Andrew Paton, the Director of City Growth at Warrnambool City Council, reject the application of one of Warrnambool’s leading businesswomen?

There are no explanations; the board can offer only silence.

The Lyndoch AGM will be held on 26 October and nominations to become a board member close two weeks prior.

There are two vacancies on the board and – personally – I would love to see Marie nominate for one of them, but she can’t, because she is not a member, which is a pre-requisite.

In reality, nobody can nominate for the board, other than those ‘tapped on the shoulder’ by the existing board members.

For a community owned aged care home to behave in this way should be unacceptable.

And yet, it seems, those with the real power to challenge it, accept it.

I wonder what it will take for the charade to end?

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

And so it comes to this – the Lyndoch Living board has kicked the community to the kerb with a mass rejection of membership applications.

The official letters began arriving in the post today.

Among those rejected was Kate Sloan, (pictured).

Kate has worked in the emergency department of South West Health Care for 20 years, including 13 years as nurse unit manager.

She has been a registered nurse since 1986 and an endorsed nurse practitioner for 14 years.

Kate also has post-graduate qualifications in emergency nursing, health management and forensic nursing.

She has hospital certifications in critical care and midwifery.

Kate wrote all of this on her Lyndoch membership application form, even though there was no box for such detail, to show the board that she might have something to offer as a member.

But Kate was considered not good enough.

She was not considered worthy of becoming a mere member, let alone ever considering becoming a board member.

The decision to reject Kate was made by Chair Sue Cassidy (hairdresser), Kerry Nelson (former CEO Mpower), Andrew Paton (WCC director City Growth), Ron Page (dairy industry), Kane Grant (Sinclair & Wilson accountant), Lorraine Mielnik (retired  nursing lecturer) and retired academic Prof Rob Wallis*.

No reason has to be given, and the board provided none.

Kate is not alone.

From what is unfolding so far, all 115 applications from the community membership drive last month have been rejected.

The Lyndoch board has – so far – not found one single person from the applicants that they consider worthy of joining Lyndoch.

Not one.

In my view, this board no longer represents the community.

From its actions over the past 12 months and particularly now, it has proven it has disconnected completely from the community that created and nurtured Lyndoch Living for more than 60 years and which still owns it.

That is disgraceful.

Instead of standing up and speaking up, the board is a part of Lyndoch’s determination to avoid community scrutiny.

It is an accomplice – not an ally – as it watches the community lose control of a community owned asset.

Again, in my view, this is disgraceful.

The community is no longer needed or wanted on a rocket ship that has its nose turned toward the ground and is losing senior nursing staff at a time when it needs them most.

Perhaps, as some have been speculating, it’s all a path to Lyndoch being privatised.

I used to think that was outlandish and would never happen. Now, I’m not so sure.

Because, until now, I believed that the community would never LET it happen.

I have come to realise the community has no – official – power to stop it.

The board has complete control over who it lets in, and who it keeps out, and you are being kept out.

And so come the next Annual General Meeting at Lyndoch on 26 October, there will be no invitation for you to join in.

I doubt you will even be told the date, which is why I am publishing it here.

There will be no questions from anyone outside of Lyndoch itself.

Anyone who hopes to nominate for the board, can’t, because you have to be a member first.

The AGM will be an entirely closed shop and, if you are lucky, you might get to watch it on Youtube a week later.

Despite the odds, I am not giving up on Lyndoch without a fight.

Because Lyndoch doesn’t belong to Sue, Andrew Prof Rob, Kane or Kerry. It doesn’t belong to the Lyndoch CEO or executive, and it sure as #$@$ doesn’t – yet – belong to BUPA.

It belongs to Warrnambool.

As a journalist, I can write about this as The Terrier.

But as a member of the community who has a strong connection to Lyndoch, like so many of us do, I will be once again writing to MPs Roma Britnell, Dan Tehan and  Minister Luke Donnellan and asking for their intervention.

The community has done all it can to fight for our aged care home: we need help.

In the meantime, if you have had your application rejected and are willing to be mentioned here, please get in touch.

* The chair and board was contacted earlier today for comment. It had not responded by deadline.

Carol Altmann – The Terrier

This past week has seen two extremely serious issues arise at Lyndoch Living aged care in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and yet the response from the board is a wall of silence.

First, Lyndoch only issued masks to all of its staff yesterday: 12 days after the Federal health minister declared masks mandatory for staff in all aged care homes in Victoria.

Second, Lyndoch allowed two people from Melbourne into its facility last Thursday and Friday, despite that city being in full lockdown and a declaration from the Victorian Chief Health Officer that, as of last Wednesday night, tightened access to aged care homes even further.