Villa Maria, Catholic Homes to merge

Victorian-based providers Catholic Homes and Villa Maria are set to merge, in a move that will see the combined not-for-profit organisation providing services to some 6,200 people across Victoria and northern NSW.

Catholic Homes, the aged care arm of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, provides residential and community care, respite and retirement living to over 1,200 Victorian seniors. Villa Maria provides services to more than 5,000 older people and children and adults with a disability, their families and carers across Victoria and southern NSW.

In a joint announcement this afternoon, Catholic Homes chairman Peter Collery and Villa Maria president Peter Hogan said that merging the two organisations would deliver a greater depth and breadth of innovative, quality services and increase capacity to invest in areas of need such as social housing and disability .

Providing aged care and disability services had become increasingly costly, particularly in regard to meeting heightened standards of compliance, they said. With government and sector changes to the way services were funded and structured, they said consolidation was a proactive move by both organisations to plan for the future.

Mr Hogan said: “The short story is that two successful, Catholic values-based, not-for-profit organisations with very similar missions have seen the benefits of scale, and worked together closely to create a better outcome for the people we support, our staff, our stakeholders and the community in general.

“We have a shared heritage, a strong vision, and by combining our expertise and skill we will strengthen our commitment to the community and our capacity to deliver flexible and responsive services; services that people want and need.”

Mr Collery said the merger would make the organisations stronger and enable them to continue to grow and develop services.

“We’re here to make a difference to people’s lives. Our communities are the heart and soul of our organisations and this decision is about delivering the best possible outcomes for the people we support now and into the future,” he said.

The merged entity will be governed by a board comprised of equal representation from the current boards of both organisations.

The two boards have signed a memorandum of understanding. Mr Collery said that preliminary investigations did not indicate there would be any obstacles in the due diligence process. “We are hopeful of gaining the approval of Villa Maria’s members, and we look forward to speaking with them in the coming days and gaining their input,” he said.

The organisations said they expected the scale of the merged entity would produce increased opportunities for professional development and enhanced career pathways for staff. “All staff will be kept fully informed as the merger discussions continue, as will all stakeholders, particularly the people we support,” they said.

Mr Collery said that while the merger process develops, all services and programs would continue to operate as normal at Villa Maria and Catholic Homes.

“For the people we support, our staff, our stakeholders and our communities, it is very much business as usual.”