Estia Health buys Royal Freemasons' Kangaroo Flat aged care home

The change in ownership will see all residents and staff from Estia Health's Long Gully aged care home relocated to the Kangaroo Flat facility in a move which will not result in any job losses, according to Estia Health chief operating officer Damian Hiser.

"Not at all. In fact, this will likely increase jobs," Mr Hiser said.

"There is enough room. There's quite a few vacancies at Kangaroo Flat and Long Gully. There's 144 beds at Kangaroo Flat so by the time the Long Gully residents move in it will be close to full and we'll need the staff."

Mr Hiser said the move is a great result for Estia Health.

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He said the Long Gully facility was about 30 years old and not purpose built to meet current aged care requirements.

"Kangaroo Flat is only six years old and has better amenities," Mr Hiser said.

"We're pretty excited. We think it's a really good move for staff and residents."

The change in ownership has come about after Royal Freemasons undertook a strategic review of its organisation in late 2022.

It made a decision to rescale its operations resulting in the sale of Benalla and Kangaroo Flat aged care homes to Estia Health.

Mr Hiser and Royal Freemasons chief executive officer John Fogarty met with residents, their families and staff at Kangaroo Flat recently to discuss the change over and talk through any questions.

Estia Health chief executive officer Sean Bilton hoped to make the transition as smooth as possible.

"We recognise this a significant change for everyone in the homes, both at our current homes and the Royal Freemasons homes," Mr Bilton said.

"We want to assure all residents and their families that they will continue to receive the same dedicated care and services from the same people that they always have.

"The individual needs of each resident at all homes will be carefully considered during the moves.

"We are focused on minimising disruptions to daily routines and familiar environments."

Mr Bilton said moving to the more modern homes would ensure personalised quality residential aged care continued to be provided in regional communities.

"This will also preserve valuable aged care jobs in regional areas," he said.

Estia Health has been providing residential aged care services to regional Victoria for more than 10 years with aged care homes in Wodonga and Ballarat.

As well as its Long Gully facility, it also operates the Victoria Heights aged care home in Ironbark.

"We see this is an opportunity to consolidate ourselves in Bendigo," Mr Hiser said of the Kangaroo Flat acquisition.

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Mr Fogarty said the Royal Freemasons wished Estia Health well.

"While we are sad to be saying farewell to our Benalla and Kangaroo Flat communities, we are confident that the residents will continue to receive high-quality, compassionate care from Estia Health," Mr Fogarty said.

Mr Bilton said he expected the transition of residents to the new Estia Health homes may take up to two months following settlement on October 3.

"When all our employees and residents are comfortably settled in their new homes, we will assess various options for the older properties," he said.

This may include selling the old Long Gully facility or repurposing it.

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