Up to 50 elderly residents of Auckland’s Mt Eden Wesley Care Centre rest home fear they’ll be left without somewhere to live after the facility’s operator told them it would shut down in less than two months.

Richard Cate, the son of one of the residents, is “disgusted” by the way he says they have been treated - and the operator of the facility and its church-owned landlord are blaming each other for the situation.

“Most of the families were disgusted at the short timeframe.

“I think the landlord should be ashamed displacing 50 elderly residents in the middle of winter with eight weeks notice to find alternative accommodation, some in need of hospital-level care,” Cate said.

But the care home operator, Oceania Healthcare and the property owner, Airedale Property Trust, are at odds over who made the decision to close.

Richard Cate with his mother Florance Cate (Flo) who is a resident at the Wesley Care Centre in Mt Eden. Photo / Dean Purcell

In an email seen by the Herald, Oceania Healthcare director of clinical and care services Shirley Ross told residents and families ”Oceania is required to close Wesley down around the end of August”.

”The site owner, Airedale Property Trust (APT) has now decided to take the site in a new direction and will not be extending Oceania’s lease.

“Unfortunately, we are left with no choice but to close the centre. This will require residents to relocate to an alternative care centre.”

The rest home has 51 beds and services residents with medical needs, dementia care, geriatric and palliative care.

But APT CEO Dean Shields denies that the company refused to re-sign the lease, and said it was ultimately Oceania who made the decision to close.

“We offered Oceania the ability to extend the lease, but Oceania has made the decision to not take up a lease extension and close down the care centre.

The new lease included a right of renewal for a further six months, until February 2024.

Shields said APT started communications with Oceania four months ago.

“We were disappointed to have our offer of renewal declined.

“We are not aware of the reason Oceania has elected not to take up the offer of an extension to the lease.”

Cate said Oceania told him that APT decided not to renew the rest home’s lease as it wants to redevelop the land for other use.

“Oceania of course have offered to assist in finding alternative places but they have only 30 beds for 50 residents, and all their other rest homes are a long distance from the current location.”

He worried for the wellbeing of the patients and families, including his mother who has dementia and for whom he is desperately searching for an appropriate place to stay.

“Many of the residents have become good friends so they are now also upset and worried.

“[It] brings great stress to the families.”

Issues are increasing in aged care across the country, including the neglect of patients.

The sector is short around 1200 nurses, and some homes struggling to fill shifts have stopped admissions or even shut down completely. Last year 1260 beds across more than 20 facilities were lost.

The workforce crisis has led to recent Government action, including funding $200 million a year for pay parity between aged-care nurses and those working in public hospitals, who have earned significantly more.

Richard Cate is desperately trying to find a new place for his mother Florance Cate (Flo). Photo / Dean Purcell

Oceania Healthcare has 44 residential aged-care and retirement village facilities servicing more than 3600 residents.

APT is owned by the Methodist Church of New Zealand, in charge of the commercial arm and income-generating activities of the church.

It is also a registered charitable trust with approximately $400 million of property under management comprising more than 500 tenants with a future development pipeline of $350 million, according to its website.

APT’s revenue funds the Methodist Mission Northern (MMN) and Lifewise, which works with families, seniors, people with disabilities, and helps people at risk of homelessness to turn their lives around.

Oceania Healthcare was contacted for comment.

Update: After publishing Oceania released a statement saying it is committed to the best outcomes for its residents, who will have the opportunity to be relocated to another Auckland Oceania Care Centre. All staff at Wesley also have alternative employment options within the Oceania family of Care Centres.

Jaime Lyth is an Auckland-based reporter who covers crime. She joined the Herald in 2021 and was previously a regional reporter at the Northern Advocate.