Save Rosary Garden Aged Care Facility

The proposed closure of Rosary Gardens, a facility with 94 Beds represents a critical loss of essential residential aged care capacity in the Hobart area, particularly New Town.

We recognise the broader trend towards home-based care, but this closure fails to account for the ongoing and growing need for high-level, complex, and dementia-specific residential care that a facility like Rosary Gardens provides.

The closure will cause immediate and severe adverse effects to:

Vulnerable Residents: Forcing the relocation of elderly, frail residents, many with complex needs like dementia, which is a traumatic and dangerous process proven to lead to accelerated health decline, confusion, and loneliness.

Families and Support Networks: Relocation to distant facilities severs established community ties, makes regular visits difficult, and diminishes the critical role of family support in a resident's well-being.

Local Aged Care Capacity: The loss of Rosary Gardens exacerbates the existing shortage of aged care beds in Tasmania, making it harder for other residents in the community to access the care they need.

A Dedicated Workforce: The closure, despite reports of staff not facing redundancy, causes distress and uncertainty for the dedicated local nurses, care workers, and support staff, destabilising the health sector workforce.

The Action Requested

We call on the Tasmanian Government to take the following actions:

1. Initiate Emergency Negotiations: Immediately engage with Southern Cross Care (Tasmania) Inc. to explore all possible options for the facility to remain open, including urgent financial assistance, revised funding models, or a temporary operating subsidy to ensure the service's sustainability.

2. Secure Future Residential Care: If the current provider is unwilling to continue operations, the Government must actively facilitate the transfer of the facility's operation to another suitable, financially stable, and accredited aged care provider to ensure the beds and the existing infrastructure remain available for the community or take this facility over and run it as a public owned and operated facility.

3. Conduct a Local Needs Assessment: Commission an urgent, transparent assessment of the immediate and future residential aged care needs in the New Town and greater Hobart area to justify the absolute necessity of maintaining Rosary Gardens' services.

We urge the Government to prioritise the well-being and stability of our most vulnerable citizens over a strategic business decision.