New Warramunda board in place before December

Warramunda chief executive officer John Clark, who arrived in the role two years ago, said the village would start final interviews for the board positions next week.

“It’s been an excellent recruitment process, people from within the local region and outside have applied,” Mr Clark said.

“We have several people with strong board experience in aged care, clinical care, governance and finance.

“We have a sub-committee that will select the new board.”

Under the new legislation Warramunda can form a board of up to 10 people, which will replace the current six-member committee of management.

Members of that committee are eligible to apply for board positions.

“We already have in place an audit risk and investment sub committee and a clinical governance sub-committee, and we are currently finalising recruitment for a community advisory sub-committee,’’ Mr Clark said.

‘’Warramunda Village’s annual general meeting will be held prior to the appointment of the new board, on November 28, and following the AGM there will be a board meeting to finalise the new board.

“The past 12 months where very challenging and the team preformed magnificently.

“Warramunda successfully completed an Aged Care and Quality Commission mandated ‘Notice to Agree’ that lasted six months.

“At the completion of the NTA we underwent an accreditation at which we successfully gained accreditation for another three years.

“We met all eight standards achieving a perfect score of 42 met compliance out of 42 categories within the eight standards.

“In addition, Warramunda volunteered to participate in the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s ‘Strengthened Quality Standards’ Pilot Project.  This set of standards when adopted at the completion of the pilot program will replace the current accreditation process.”

That process involved Warramunda meeting “Conformance” in all seven standards achieving a perfect score of 33 conformances out of 33 across the seven standards.

The facility now boasts 82 beds and 50 independent living units, along with 135 home-care clients.

“We are operating at over 99 per cent occupancy and have done so since we came out of the NTA and have a waitlist of people wishing to live at Warramunda,” he said.

“We have worked hard to return to a ‘normal’ living environment and government grants have enabled us to make some significant business improvements.

“The grants allowed us to purchase the latest digital diagnostic equipment, and the first aged care facility in the state to partner with Ambulance Victoria and Northern Hospital in Epping to provide 24-hour medical care for our residents, an upgraded laundry, along with new flooring in the older wings, improvements to rooms and the digital network means Warramunda is operating as well as it ever has.”

The recent launch of the three-year strategic plan saw the residents, family representatives, staff, and community representatives,  participate in the consultative process.

“Our strategic plan will focus on four key pillars – Our Care, Our People, Our Business and Our Governance,’’ Mr Clark said.

“Since April we have not had an agency nurse or career in the facility. We have a full complement of nurses and carers. This is particularly pleasing and an excellent achievement.

“I know of no other aged care provider that can state that they only staff their facility with their own nurses and careers.  Warramunda receives a number of employment applications across all skill groups weekly, including workers returning to work at Warramunda.’’

Warramunda Fete will return for the first time since 2019 on November 24, when the doors of the facility will throw open for those people who are prepared to go through a RAT test.

Those attending the outdoor element of the fete will not need to complete a RAT test.

Residents have been preparing pot plants, along with knitted and crocheted products to go on sale at the fete.

There will also be a celebrity sponge throwing competition and, probably most importantly, the launch of The Switch Cafe.

The cafe is being operated out of a converted shipping container from the site of the former Warramunda crèche.

“It will be officially opened at the fete. A long-time Kyabram family has made the project possible and the shipping container has been fabricated into a coffee shop,” Mr Clark said.

“It will be dropped into place on November 16 and was one of the pieces of our strategic plan.

“Families told us that they wanted somewhere, outside of the building, that they could go to enjoy each other’s company even when the facility is in lockdown, the café will be open.

“The old outside creche area hasn’t been used for a number of years and was perfect for this purpose.”

The cafe will even feature a meticulously crafted coffee blend exclusively designed for The Switch Cafe.

The blend developed by a coffee roaster in Shepparton is a testament to Warramunda’s dedication to providing an exceptional experience for its cherished residents, their families and devoted staff.

“We looked around at a number of roasters, but this was the best,” he said.

Mr Clark said the annual general meeting, fete and Switch Cafe launch would allow Warramunda to share its vision of how the facility would look in the next five and 10 years.

“We still have undeveloped land and we will be starting a master plan once the new board is in place,’’ he said.

“We will look at things like what allied health services are needed for the future and how we can be ahead of the curve as the funding model for aged care facilities continues to chance.

“I look forward to working with the new board to deliver on our three-year strategic plan to ensure the long term sustainable future for Warramunda as an aged-care facility servicing the needs of the local community.”