Hall & Prior Aged Care has officially taken charge of the Blue Haven Bonaira aged-care facility from Kiama Council and they have put local minds at ease by stating they are here for the long haul.

Kiama Mayor Cameron McDonald and chief executive officer Jane Stroud met with Hall & Prior CEO Graeme Prior at Blue Haven Bonaira on Tuesday to officially sign off on the settlement of the deal to transition ownership of Blue Haven Bonaira Residential Aged Care Home, Independent Living Units and associated services.

Council has operated the facility for more than 40 years and Mayor McDonald said he was proud of their involvement in providing this essential service to the local community.

“I hope our staff and our community feel pride in the facilities, the services and the staff providing those services that we have delivered here at Blue Haven Bonaira and Blue Haven Terralong for many years,” he said.

“Blue Haven encapsulates Kiama Council’s strong history of caring for our community. That’s why, when the previous Council resolved to sell Blue Haven Bonaira, we were adamant it should stay open, in our community, and that staff would retain their conditions and entitlements.

“It’s also because we care for our community, that we’re handing over Bonaira to aged care specialists Hall & Prior, and we warmly welcome the Hall & Prior team to our area.

“The sale of Blue Haven Bonaira is part of the performance improvement order from the state government that we’re still under.

“Essentially it was a necessary path that we’ve gone down here. The previous Council made that decision in light of the situation they were in at the time and the current Council has seen the process through.

“We’re now looking at a positive future. Our budget in two years’ time will be at break-even which is what the performance improvement order states. In fact, if the state government decides to support us in some of the land sales that we’ll be looking at Spring Creek and Dido Street area, we could almost be looking at a budget surplus this year, a year ahead of time.”

Hall & Prior CEO Graeme Prior assured the residents and the wider community that they would be investing significant amounts to upgrade the infrastructure as part of a long-term plan to continue operating for decades to come.

“In the next 90 days we have to get the residents to know the staff and get their care plans under control. The most important thing is the continuity of care for the residents, people in the village and the home care program.

“Kiama is a fantastic community, it’s a beautiful place to be and we’re here for at least 20, 30, 40 years. We are very excited about it.

“We’re absolutely delighted to take the reins at Blue Haven Bonaira. We acknowledge the effort and spirit shown by Kiama Council and the wider community in creating and supporting this valued service over the years.

“We’re excited about the future and committed to enhancing the services and facilities for residents and the broader community for many years to come.

“We’ll soon begin a series of upgrades, starting with improvements to the Independent Living Unit bathrooms and Barroul House.

“We’re investing $1.2 million in refurbishments that we know residents have been looking forward to.

“We’ll also be completing a number of important maintenance tasks to ensure the facilities are operating at their best."

There are no job losses as part of the changeover and Stroud said the existing staff members were enthusiastic about the fresh injection of resources from Hall & Prior.

Peter Mayes, the chairperson of the Independent Living Units and Residents Committee, said he was hopeful that the switch to Hall & Prior as the new owners would be a positive result for them.

“A lot of people here have an emotional connection to this place and we were dismayed when they did decide to sell,” he said.

“We still want to make sure we’ve got a voice in what they do. We are hopefully optimistic.”