A sign that aged care operators are too stretched with the pandemic to be filling in paperwork?
The Department of Health has extended grants from its Business Improvement Fund (BIF) until 30 April 2021 – just under a year away.
As we covered here, the Fund has originally been announced by Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck at the start of February for small to medium-sized aged care providers – particularly those in rural and remote areas and in bushfire-affected areas – to improve their business operations, sell up or close their doors.
But the BIF only opened on the 31 March – two months later – just after the peak in the number of coronavirus cases in Australia.
The extension could also that the Department considers the grants will be needed in the coming months.
Given Ansell Strategic had predicted closures would begin to increase from mid-May, that could be the case.
To find out more about the grants, click here.
