Despite a difficult year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, Fronditha Care was able to carry out needed changes in the way it works and ensure the organisation’s financial viability said the organisation’s president board chair Jill Taylor (Nikitakis) at the annual general meeting on Monday, 29 November.

Over 50 members attended the AGM and heard that significant changes had taken place over the last two quarters of the 2021 financial year which did not affect service delivery. Ms Taylor said the organisation had performed 30 percent better than was budgeted for at the start of the financial year, with a 16 percent increase  in income and an occupancy rate of between 98 and 100 percent in a sector where average occupancy was below 90 percent.

She added that there had been significant growth in community services and a two-fold increase in clients.

“The year has been filled with momentous transformation marked by a challenging pandemic. Yet the Board and Executive have worked through this uncertainty with enthusiasm and energy to deliver significant change in operations and secure the financial viability of the organisation,” she told the meeting.

READ MORE: Fronditha Care opens $22million 90-bed St Albans facility ahead of schedule

Also highlighted was the opening of St Albans, a $22 million 90-bed facility that was opened ahead of time and below budget at the height of pandemic lockdowns experienced in Melbourne.

With regard to the organisation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms Taylor said numerous audits by the Aged Care and Quality Commission had been positive about Fronditha Care’s preparedness and infection-control practices at all of its facilities.

She said the recent outbreak at St Albans was now considered full resolved following advice from the public health unit received on 26 November. While most of the residents and staff who had tested positive for COVID-19 had remained asymptomatic, three residents of whom two were unvaccinated and one with serious underlying health issues had died.

She said that the organisation had been quick to set up a vaccination program with more than 3,000 vaccinations administered across its five facilities and its Mulgrave community centre.

Ms Taylor said Fronditha Care’s board and executive were preparing to deliver an extensive strategic growth program and were working on a number of “significant partnerships”.

“We very much look forward to sharing with you our plans in 2022 for expanding our service offer and provision of an integrated customer experience,” said Ms Taylor.

Treasurer Kostas Livadaras presented his financial report in which he described the factors that had led to the organisation’s financial turnaround in a short period of time and the measures in place to ensure it continued to do well.

The meeting unanimously endorsed four candidates for election to the board of directors for 2022: The board members are: Jilly Taylor (president); Nicholas Giasoumi (vice-president); John Kallitsas (secretary); Kostas Livadaras (treasurer); Dr Stella Laletas (director); and Alex Krassas (director)

♦ The full 2020-2012 annual report is available on the Fronditha Care website.