Havelock North aged care unit’s sudden closure announcement shocks residents’ families

The Nimon household at the Mary Doyle retirement village in Havelock North is shutting down, forcing 22 residents in hospital-level care to find a new place. Photo / Warren Buckland

Families have been shocked by the short notice given in the closure announcement of a hospital-level aged care unit with 22 beds in Havelock North.

Residents of the Nimon household in the Havelock North Mary Doyle care centre and their families were informed late last week with a letter from operator Arvida saying the decision had been made to prepare for its closure.

Susan Shaw, Arvida’s head of clinical governance, said challenges in recruiting suitably qualified and skilled senior registered nurses meant the only way to maintain an appropriate level of care for their residents was to reduce the number of residents they supported.

“Like many other aged care providers in New Zealand, we have been unable to secure nurses in certain areas and in particular this region. We have explored every option possible,” Shaw said.

Maree Sorensen and Keryn Brown’s father Brian Sorensen has been a resident of Nimon House for nearly five years.

“I understand the reason Arvida is closing down the Nimon care unit is purely financial,” Sorensen said.

“Arvida should have managed this process so much more professionally and with empathy towards their vulnerable residents by a managed retreat over a reasonable period of, say, a year as opposed to three weeks,” she said.

“They’ve known quite a while now, but only just told us,” Brown said.

“There are just no words, it’s just insane. It’s wrong.”

Brian Sorensen is one of the residents of Nimon household who will be forced to move soon. His daughters say there was not enough notice for residents and families. Photo / Keryn Brown

Jane Riley’s mother has been in Nimon House for 12 years and requires a high level of care.

Riley had concerns about the communication with families during the process in light of the short notice given before the meeting on Monday.

She said they have since been invited to other meetings to discuss options but haven’t been given anything viable yet.

“We understand we can’t change the outcome. We just don’t like the way it was handled.”

Moving out of the region is not an option.

“There are four of us children and we all live here in Napier, Hastings, Clive, Te Awanga, and Mum has lived here all her life, so we definitely don’t want her to be sent somewhere else,” she said.

“A lot of those staff have been like family to her for the last 10 to 12 years. The whole move is going to be a big shock for her.”

Shaw said Arvida was committed to supporting residents and their families until they were resettled and she anticipated moves could begin on August 21.

“Unfortunately when there are critical staff shortages in care, we need to make this difficult decision and take action in the best interests of our residents,” she said.

“We have been working with families to understand their situation and preferences. Some residents will move quite quickly while for others it may take a number of weeks to finalise details and support them to move.”

Simon Everitt, programme lead at Te Whatu Ora Hawke’s Bay, said Te Whatu Ora was formally advised that Arvida intended to close the Nimon household on August 2.

“[Arvida], like most healthcare providers, have struggled to recruit senior registered nurses following ongoing impacts from Covid-19 and now Cyclone Gabrielle,” Everitt said.

“We understand this will be a very unsettling time for whānau and residents, but at all times clinical safety must come first for residents who require hospital-level care.”

He said Te Whatu Ora was working with Mary Doyle staff to review the needs of residents and working with whānau to identify where their loved ones would be best placed.

“Te Whatu Ora has requested Arvida explores all possible options to keep residents within the district and is actively liaising with other care providers within the region on possible placements.”

Aged Care Association interim CEO Katherine Rich said the shortage of registered nurses and “chronic underfunding” had led to the permanent closure of more than 1000 beds for aged care across the country in the last year.

“For those families in Havelock North, I can completely understand the stress and anxiety, but what has occurred is symptomatic of the aged care sector in crisis and tough decisions being made because facilities cannot operate safely without the staff and funding that covers the full cost of care,” Rich said.

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz