The Snowy Monaro Regional Council has voted in favour of transferring the ownership and operations of the 40-bed Yallambee Lodge aged care facility, in Cooma, 114km south of Canberra, to Not For Profit Respect Aged Care.

Sale details are still being finalised, but the transfer is expected to take place on 1 April 2024, Respect Aged Care CEO Jason Binder told The SOURCE.

Respect plans to expand its existing Cooma aged care home, Hudson House, to 105 rooms and eventually transfer Yallambee Lodge's 40 residents to Hudson House.

"Cooma only has market capacity for about 105 rooms, so it made little sense to operate one small and one medium sized home in the community and this provides a solution to that problem," Jason said.

Once the transfer of Yallambee Lodge to Respect Aged Care is complete, Respect will have 25 aged care homes.

The Snowy Mountains Regional Council has held a long-standing commitment to getting out of residential aged care as part of its Financial Sustainability Plan, and had planned to sell the home to Sapphire Coast Community Aged Care, however, the South Coast provider dropped out of negotiations. 

Respect Aged Care has a successful track record turning around the operations of small, regional aged care homes that are struggling with financial sustainability, workforce, and reforms. 

The transfer marks a new beginning for the home, where 95-year-old Clare Nowland was allegedly Tasered in May last year, and a week later later died from the injuries she sustained. Senior Constable Kristian White has been charged with manslaughter and is due to face the NSW Supreme Court on 5 April 2024. He is on bail.