By Jolene Ogle
THE Sunshine Hospice Board announced on Friday afternoon that they will vacate the former Katie Rose Cottage site in Doonan, sparking outrage in the community.
The announcement has shocked locals with many Facebook followers venting their frustration online at the uncertain future of a hospice for the Noosa region.
“This is a travesty; rampant bureaucracy,” Annie Cory said.
“Just wish the board would step down. We now don’t have a hospice and if we ever get another one, it won’t be as good as the original Katie Rose Cottage and will probably be down the coast somewhere. Disgraceful,” Anne McGovern wrote.
Earlier this year, hospice volunteers walked off the job to protest a lack of information about the fate of the hospice from the board after the facility closed in December 2015 due to financial difficulties.
The former volunteers then formed the Katie Rose Cottage Committee (KRCC) with plans to force the board to step down and reinstate the palliative care facility at the Doonan site.
The two groups have since been locked in a stalemate, with neither side agreeing to step down, culminating in Friday’s announcement that Sunshine Hospice, who previously operated the facility, would permanently vacate the Doonan site ahead of the sale of the property by the owner.
In a statement to the media, Sunshine Hospice chairman Frank Lewins said he understood this was a “challenging time of transition for some members of the community”.
“Change is difficult. For many of us who have been involved with the charity and the Doonan site for many years, it is a time of mixed emotions,” he said.
“It is hard to leave the past behind … but we are working to ensure a financially sustainable community-based hospice is available on the Sunshine Coast for everyone who needs it into the future and that is a very worthwhile and positive endeavour.”
KRCC spokesperson Carol Raye said the board might have “devastated” the community, but the committee had vowed to reopen the Katie Rose Cottage and its palliative care services.
“We believe the current site in Doonan was, and still is, suitable for an appropriately accredited and more cost effective palliative care facility that has earned the love, commitment and support of the community,” she said.
“A group of financial members has written to the board and is seeking a special meeting to present a resolution to have the current board of directors removed.
“It is our hope this meeting will take place as soon as the process allows, and if successful, a newly installed board will work towards negotiating to purchase the property and re-open as a first priority.”
Ms Raye said the KRCC is frustrated with a lack of communication or consultation from the board about the future of the charity, and questioned what would happen to the current medical equipment and donated artworks that were presented to the charity.
“The community has an overwhelming desire to keep the original Katie Rose (operating) model. With over 2300 signatures on a petition and with significantly more than a ‘minority group’ of volunteers and many of the organisation’s financial members choosing not to continue to support their decision, it is clear the board has lost significant, wide-spread support,” she said.
“This committee can and will continue to work to reopen the hospice for the Sunshine Coast Community. It will bring back palliative care services to those in the community who wish to choose an alternative to hospital-style care; exactly the essence and ethos that Katie Rose Cottage offered and gained a great deal of respect for.”
Mr Lewins said the board was continuing discussions with allied health organisations to secure a purpose-built facility for the Sunshine Coast and all equipment from the Doonan site would be stored until the facility was built.
