Job losses possible as new owner restructures Cromwell villages
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Staff at Cromwell's two retirement villages were told by new owners on Wednesday a restructure would impact jobs.
Promisia Healthcare, which owns four other villages around the country, took over Golden View and Ripponburn at the end of August.
Now, after a few months of getting a feel for the separate operations, Promisia's boss tell Crux a shakeup is proposed and staff are being consulted.
Christchurch-based director Craig Percy and HR manager Wilesca Calitiz have been in town this week meeting with staff.
They would not be drawn on how many jobs could be lost, saying staff had until November 8 to provide feedback on what is proposed, with any decisions coming 10 days after that.
Mr Percy says staff will be "affected in different sorts of ways", as the company considers shifting some back office work to its Christchurch base, and sharing Cromwell workers across the two local facilities.
He has confirmed one clinic manager and one facility manager will be based in Cromwell, with responsibilities for both villages.
"At the heart of this has to be the residents and making sure they are well looked after," Mr Percy says.
Ms Calitiz says there is "quite a mix" of people working across the two villages, and some of them "have been there quite a while".
Mr Percy says his initial feeling from staff upon the news being delivered was that "they were just taking it in".
He sees the next few weeks as a "consultation process".
"They are the teams that work on the ground.
"They are deeply passionate about what they do for their residents.
"We've made our observations and now we want to hear what their thoughts and views are...so we can make the right decision."
Mr Percy thinks the aged care sector is in for some interesting years ahead, with a growing retirement population and people living longer.
He says the funding model as it sits now has its limitations and any business changes flagged are about balancing care efficiencies with financial efficiencies, which he thinks "go hand in hand".
There will be increasing demand in Cromwell for aged cared facilities, and Promisia is looking to cater to it.
"It's early days for us but we see huge opportunities for us to provide additional services moving forward," Mr Percy says.
"There is quite a lot of land associated with Ripponburn, so we are looking at what our options are."
For now, Ripponburn has rest home and hospital facilities, while Golden View has rest home, hospital and dementia facilities.
Promisia Healthcare is a NZX listed company with 442 care beds, 95 apartments and 162 independent living units across Feilding, Christchurch and Dannevirk, in addition to Cromwell.
Main images (Facebook): Job losses are possible as a restructure is proposed for Golden View and Ripponburn retirement villages in Cromwell, which were bought recently by national company Promisia Healthcare.
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