About Us
McLaren Vale Memorial Health Centre
A new vision for 5-9 Aldersey St Mclaren Vale
Our vision
Disclaimer
This business plan is presented for informational purposes only and is intended for the exclusive use of the members of the community organisation to whom it has been directly distributed. It is not to be disclosed, reproduced, or distributed to any other parties without the express written consent of the authors.
The information contained within this document is based on data and assumptions that are believed to be reliable and accurate at the time of writing. However, it should be noted that market conditions, competitive landscapes, and other external factors can change rapidly. As such, the authors cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, nor can they be held responsible for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies that may be found in this document.
Furthermore, this business plan does not constitute an offer or solicitation for the sale of shares or any other securities, nor should it be construed as providing investment, legal, or tax advice. The authors and presenters of this plan make no representations or warranties regarding the feasibility, profitability, or success of the proposed business venture. Any decisions or actions taken by the community organisation, or its members based on the information provided in this business plan are the sole responsibility of those making the decisions or taking the actions and should be made only after conducting independent validation and due diligence.
SAVE McLaren Vale Hospital Incorporated
Save McLaren Vale Hospital Incorporated is a member organization made up of local residents of McLaren Vale, McLaren Flat and Willunga (people from other areas are welcome as well).
The land and buildings at 5-9 Aldersey St should and can remain in the hands of a community owned incorporated association and assets can deliver a sustainable health services to ALL people in the area.
Successful, passionate and capable people who live here are willing to invest their time, energy and money to give back to the society that offers one of the safest, fairest and best living standards in the world.
Our high quality of life and safety relies on guardians willing to protect it.
Members of Save McLaren Vale Hospital Incorporated are your health and wellbeing guardians.
Join us on Facebook!
Contents
01
Background
02
Our district
03
Our plan
04
The detail
05
What you need to do
Health is every “bodies” business
The people of McLaren Vale, Mclaren Flat & Willunga need health care services
87.7% or 7,966 people See a GP at least once a year
32.6% or 2,961 see other health professionals
45.7% or 4,151 see a specialist each year
GP fees are escalating faster than families can keep up
Driving 30km+ to see a specialist adds to an already stressful situation
A growing population needs better services in the area
Residents want better services, closer to home and less traffic on the main road of Mclaren Vale
We conducted more than 12 months of research of open and public community consultation, interviews with medical practitioners, SALHN staff, other hospital CEO’s and senior management, state and federal politicians, specialists' health researchers and legal professionals.
Our region is growing
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Population increase 28%
524 new families
Median income up 43%
643 new houses
Increased service demands
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The majority of services are
too far away
Driving to other towns for services is a tax on families. People move further from work to afford a house for their children and then spend more of their wages to access services.
We already have the perfect location
For the 12,000 people who reside in Mclaren Vale, Mclaren Flat and Willunga we have the perfect location for improved health services.
5-9 Aldersey Street delivers
More than 20 car parks for visitors
Rear parking for staff and visiting practitioners
Emergency pick up space for ambulances
Community space for meetings in historic the Tsong Gyiaou
Beautiful gardens
Easy way finding from the main road
Once it’s gone – it’s gone. Neither political party has any plans for improved health services from McLaren Vale to Mt Compass, from the Flat to Kangarilla – it’s up to us to protect what we have.
Historic location historic people
The hospital was erected to commemorate those who have died in service or been killed in action in the various conflicts in which Australia has been involved. The foundation stone was laid on the 29th April 1950 and the hospital was officially opened by the Governor (Sir Willoughby Norrie) on the 28th April 1951.
The original name of the hospital was “The Southern Districts War Memorial Hospital.” “Southern Districts” was included in the name of the proposed new hospital to recognise that it was to be established to serve the whole of the district, not just McLaren Vale and “War Memorial” was included to recognise the memory and ultimate contribution made by men and women from all the armed services. The hospital exists because great people worked hard to bring it to life, it remains because people have donated their time and money. It can continue to deliver for the community, but it will always require the commitment and energy of capable people to serve those who need help.
Born in 1797, Mary Ann Aldersey was the first Christian missionary woman (married or single) to serve in China proper. She founded a school for girls in Ningbo, Zhejiang and spent her working life there as a strong female leader facing deadly challenges in mainland China. She refused to be intimidated and set a positive example to other women encouraging them to focus on female education. She retired to South Australia and arranged for the construction of the “Tsong Gyiaou”.
Her niece, also named Mary Ann Aldersey (born 1825) together with her sister Eliza created a boarding school for girls in 1868 and was an avid collector for the National Herbarium. Tsong Gyaiou remains to this day on the hospital grounds and is heritage protected.
MARY ANN ALDERSEY (S)
Born in 1901, Dr Tassie graduated in 1926 and started practicing medicine in the Murray Mallee This was the time of the great depression, and the community of Murrayville was severely affected. His income was minimal. He often accepted a fraction of his fee, in one instance one shilling as full settlement of his account for several pounds. Farm produce was often accepted as payment.
In 1943, he moved to McLaren Vale. Dr Tassie was instrumental in the establishment of the hospital and remained its medical superintendent for 25 years (from 1951 to 1976). He was regarded as kind, compassionate, caring, skillful and patient setting a standard of general practice aspired to by many.
DR GEMMEL TASSIE OAM
Our plan
Community owned health services for
everyone
Health services hub
simple
Our plan is to convert hospital beds into consult rooms. This is not a new idea, the clinic tenancy is a for-profit version of this concept already. Medical and allied health professionals lease (or share) a consult room and pay a service fee to a shared receptionist and practice services trust. Again, nothing new here, it’s exactly how the majority of medical practices operate except our service company will be a registered charity focused on health promotion
THE DIFFERENCE?
The land and assets are owned by you. Our community is the landlord. Profits from the operation are donated back to the community through subsidised services (for those who need it), donations to people in distress (a very sick child or complex domestic situation) or community events that promote health and wellbeing.
HOW DO WE GET THERE?
We already have enquiries and interested tenants, our committee has significant business and operational experience, and our community is full of generous and intelligent people who can and want to help.
THIS ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE
We can lower the business costs for medical practitioners, save the community money AND make a big difference to people who really need help.
Keep it simple
The building remains
Ambulance station and other tenants remain
Bedrooms are converted to consulting rooms
The memorials stay
The reception is refurbished.
The eastern station is converted to a lounge and waiting area
Overnight accommodation for visiting specialists + community space for hire
It’s now a health hub!
Nurse Care Coordinator
The Nurse Care Coordinator role has emerged in recent years as an important means of achieving significant outcomes for patient, their families, and the larger health system. These outcomes include increased patient satisfaction with service provision, an increase in patient access to services, and a decrease in the hospital length of stay and unplanned readmission.
Todays health system is under stress and general practitioners have little time for patient care. There are an estimated 140,000 misdiagnosis's each year in Australia and poor treatment outcomes are often difficult to pick up in patients with complex needs or difficult social situations. We propose to employ a dedicated care coordinator to assist residents get to the right service quickly and to advocate for them if they need it. Our health hub can host a variety of care providers from psychology to physio and everything in between. A dedicated nurse care coordinator can work with medical professional tenants to deliver clinical best practice and importantly they will have time to get to know people in the community who need a little extra help.
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Preserving Heritage
Our plan retains the gardens, trees, car park, memorial and the hospital from 1951-2024 and beyond.
Staged recovery
REPAIR
STABILIZE
REFINE
-
Negotiate repayment terms with SAHLN to repay $1.1million. (Target 5 year repayment plan)
-
Formalise charity structure (see next slide)
-
Re-open with minimum viable operation, start leasing consulting rooms.
-
Identify and address any critical building issues - eg air conditioning systems.
-
Complete minimal layout improvements (waiting area lounge).
-
Use Tsang Tsong building for office space and training room requirements open to public for community use subject to cost contribution.
-
Fully lease the rooms to maximize income.
-
Refurbishment and conversion of ancillary rooms (theatre).
-
Improve equipment and services to tenants to maximise occupancy.
-
Consider joint ventures with medical services providers to expand health services (eg construction of compliant facilities for radiology services) without disturbing heritage.
Association Structure
The structure diagram has some complexity so here is the detail:
Firstly, the original association remains. However, it should be converted to a “Public Ancillary Fund”. This special charity class is not designed to operate a business, instead it exists to donate profits to ANY OTHER CLASS of charity including scholarships, cultural advancement, public benevolent associations (such as Kalyra), education and more.
To protect the assets from operations risk or litigation we recommend that real property (the land and buildings) is held in a separate trust, 100% owned by the original association. A new company is established – “McLaren Vale Memorial Health Centre Pty Ltd” and this entity applies to be registered as a DGR or deductible gift recipient classed as a “Health Promotion” charity class – the same as the original hospital. The directors of this charity mirror that of the association ensuring streamlined operations.
Medical practitioners, allied health professionals and health service providers lease consulting rooms and pay a service fee to the operating company which provides reception, phone, equipment and other services (similar to the service trust most medical practitioners use to share resources).
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Cheap to execute
Profitable to operate
Despite the financial sabotage caused by a few, our hospital was built shortly after WW2. It is tough enough to weather any storm.
Execution costs are low, the existing reception desk could use with a refit, but it’s good enough to get started. The nurses station would look better as a lounge, but we can use a spare room to kick off operations and clinicians can provide their own equipment as we lease up the space.
We expect it will take time to fully lease the consulting rooms hence the difference between 2024 and 2025.
The estimated funds for donation is a number calculated to ensure the association maintains suitable cash reserves but does at least make a sizeable contribution back to the community. The allocation in the second year would be enough to cover the GP gap for nearly 2,000 people!
A complete financial model is available to members on our website.
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Key Benefits
Up to $320,000 could be generated to donate or reduce costs for people who need help EACH YEAR
GP’s and specialists could have lower costs which they can pass on to EVERYONE
A new nurse coordinator will assist those with complex needs get the best care possible
Kalyra could still work with us
The community remains in control
The building and heritage is protected
Together
we can deliver
What you need to do
Share
Share this presentation with everyone you know
Don’t take our word for it, pick this proposal apart, and everything we have ever said. Offer alternatives, share ideas, make suggestions.
Make it better
Scrutinise
Join
Join us and join as a member of Mclaren Vale & Districts Memorial Hospital Incorporated for $10
Demand
As a member demand the current board release documents relating to the merger, who suggested it, what was the legal advice, why is there now a huge bill to pay? Why wasn’t this done properly?
Support
Your peers are “leaning in” to improve services in our area. Maybe you need us, maybe you can help. Get Involved
Where to from here?
Join us . Join the hospital association . Demand answers
You can join as a hospital member by downloading this form
Or join us and select the "hospital member option"
We will complete the membership form for you, collect payment online (and pay for any transaction fees) and remit it to the hospital to save you and them time.