Since the announcement of DP Jones Nursing Home's closure on Tuesday, Jessica and her siblings have been frantically looking for their next home.
Jessica, who did not want to be named, said her family made the move from Melbourne three decades ago to enjoy “a quiet place to retire”.
But now it looks like they will have to return to the city.
“It’s just disgusting,” Jessica said.
“They both expressed a desire to move back down and be closer to family but when it came down to the crunch their fear of the unknown and moving just kicked in big time,” she said.
As administrators could not confirm when the doors would shut, Jessica and her family toured a Shepparton aged care facility this week, but it was too expensive.
“I can’t help but think this is just money grabbing, because my family are desperate to find a place,” she said.
“Now we are frantically scouting about other areas for them to live,” she said.
Aged Care Minster Richard Colbeck said decisions to close aged care facilities were made by the approved provider.
“I am advised the administrator is doing everything possible to ensure residents are able to be moved to a facility of their choice that matches their care needs, and that the administrator is exploring options for staff to be placed in other nearby facilities so they can continue to provide care for our senior Australians,” he said.
However, some aged care facilities in Shepparton have limited availability for the Murchison residents.
Menarock Life Shepparton facility only has one bed while Harmony Village has 11 vacant rooms.
Doutta Galla Aged Services general manager operations and service development Robyn Simpson said Shepparton's Harmony Village had prioritised support to Murchison Aged Care residents and their families.
“Our aim is to ensure the appropriate paperwork is completed quickly and to ensure that the transition to our service is as easy as possible,” Ms Simpson said.
Shepparton Villages had also received “a lot of interest” and said they would accommodate what they could.
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