“There is no truth in the rumour going around that Rosa Munch is closing down.”
So said Ivan Ingram, a trustee of Rosa Munch House – Home for the Aged/Huis vir Bejaardes, a facility in Kariega which can accommodate 46 independent residents.
“During the last few years, our numbers started to drop drastically, and we found ourselves in a situation where a lot of residents passed away, and new intakes were few and far between. Covid restrictions also prevented Rosa Munch from taking on new residents, with the result that our income vs expenses started to become lopsided,” said Ingram.
According to him trouble started during the night of Easter Sunday, April 2018, when Rosa Munch’s bank account was hacked.
“A total of R1.2 million was withdrawn from our account. The bank refused to take responsibility and that in turn had a massive effect on our finances, and currently we are still feeling the effect of this loss.
“During 2021 we were facing a precarious situation, in which our salary bill was equal to 90% of our income, and the only way out was to start looking at retrenchment of staff.
“Our ratio of one staff for every five residents per shift could no longer be maintained, and we found ourselves with a ratio of one staff for every two residents. We were forced to retrench and bring the ratio back to a more acceptable ratio.
“At the start of 2022, owing to dwindling resident numbers, we found that our salary bill was once more heading in the wrong direction, and the only way out was for more drastic intervention to be put in place.
“We reached a stage in which our salary bill was 100% of our income and our contingency fund would carry us for only about four months if no intervention was done.”
Ingram said at that stage Rosa Munch had 24 residents in total, of which five were in frail care where most of the salary bill and expenses were utilized.
“Rosa Munch had no option other than to close our frail care section and retrench almost all our nursing staff. We had a meeting with Aandmymering and negotiated the transfer of our five frail care patients to them as of 31st of August this year,” said Ingram.
Currently Rosa Munch has 15 independent living residents and there is space for another 31 independent residents.
Rosa Munch has a fully equipped frail care/sick bay, which will gradually open again as and when the need arises.
- For further information call the home at 041 9924138 or to arrange an appointment to view the premises or to find out about room pricing.
