Business View Oceania | December 2019

79 80 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA DECEMBER 2019 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA DECEMBER 2019 SUNR I SE HEALTHCARE LTD . BVO: Why do residents choose to live in one of your facilities? Rosa: “Most of our residents are local. The families like to keep their parents close to home so they can visit easily. For example at Lynton Lodge, we have quite a few people who come every day to visit with their mom and dad. It’s a huge support to our facility and also to the residents. With the dementia, we expect people will likely travel a little bit further because there aren’t that many dementia care beds around. When a resident’s needs change they can go from rest home to hospital level to end of life care, here. Most people stay right through with us. They are familiar with the surroundings and the staff and they don’t want to change. “All the cooking is done onsite. We have a lot of residents from different cultures so we encourage our chefs to cook a variety of styles; Asian food, curry, stir fry, but the majority is western food like lobster and fish. The menus are designed to make sure the nutrition is sufficient and they’re updated on a regular basis. Most of our food is supplied by Bidfood. But West Harbour Gardens has a nearby shop and our staff go there a few times a week to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. We’d like to buy more local produce.” BVO: What challenges are impacting the Aged Care industry? Rosa: “The biggest challenge is the nurse shortage. Most of them moved to Australia for better wages and when we do get them, they don’t stay long. It’s getting to the crisis stage because when one nurse leaves, it takes us a very long time to fill the position. And it gives us so much stress. Not just us, the whole industry in New Zealand. The government needs to do something about it. And immigration is a problem. When we had someone great who signed an agreement to come here, they couldn’t get a Visa quickly so it’s very difficult.” David: “New Zealand trained nurses are highly regarded, so they have a lot more opportunities, especially in Australia where the wages are a lot higher. We tend to attract overseas trained nurses