An increase in the quantity and complexity of administration, the impact of COVID-19 on business operation and the inability to attract leadership staff have forced the board of Autumn Lodge to ask for expressions of interest from other aged care operators.

"We're still in a very good position and we don't want to be asking in three years for someone to merge with when we've got absolutely no capital left," Deputy Chair of the Board, David Steller said.

"So it's just opportunistic at this time because we do have reasonable assets which will allow for capital development.

"We have made the difficult decision to seek and consider expressions of interest from like-minded not-for-profit organisations to merge operations and services."

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Autumn Lodge has been in existence since 1896 and operating in its current form since 1956.

One of the biggest issues facing the current operation is a lack of high calibre leadership staff Mr Steller said.

"For the last three years, we have been unable to attract a suitable CEO to Armidale or a senior finance person, or a director of clinical care.

"And so all the staff that we currently have below that are doing a fantastic job but are under pressure because there's no one above them with the knowledge and the skills to help them in their daily work."

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Mr Steller said the board was mindful that the last few years have been very challenging for all aged care providers and Autumn Lodge has been no exception.

"In this period, we have witnessed first-hand the increasing challenges and expectations on boards under the Aged Care Act, the Aged Care Quality Standards and the NSW Retirement Villages Act," Mr Steller said.

"At the same time as rising to these challenges, we have been focused on keeping residents and staff safe in a global pandemic for two and a half years."

Mr Steller said throughout the early months of 2022, there have been at least nine aged care homes close in NSW.

"We were conscious of this choice made by other operators, and we were united in our desire to avoid this fate," he said.

"But we are also one of the 65 per cent of regional homes operating at a loss, and have been throughout the pandemic years.

"Therefore, we strongly believe that merging the activities of Autumn Lodge with a like-minded organisation that has a demonstrated commitment to regional NSW will secure the long-term future access of the Armidale community to the services they need in later life."

Autumn Lodge is the third community-run New England aged care facility to seek a merger in recent years.

In 2018 McLean Care took over Kolora in Guyra after a lengthy consultation and tender process, led by Armidale Regional Council, in collaboration with the Guyra Aged Care Advisory Committee.

Then in February 2020, Whiddon took over management of the Fairview Retirement Village in Moree.

Long-standing Director of Autumn Lodge, Robert Finch, put forward how important this is to the community and the directors - who are all members of the local community.

"The directors have served on this Board for a combined period of approximately 100 years," Mr Finch said.

"Our commitment to the community and the organisation is unquestioned. We will work towards achieving a positive outcome for the community, residents, family members, staff and suppliers over the coming months."

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The board has engaged specialist aged care consulting group Pride Living to assist it through the process of identifying and selecting the operator to assume the ongoing responsibility for care, service and accommodation at the Butler and Glass Street sites.

Mr Finch said some of the features sought in the new operator were the fit with the values of Autumn Lodge, experience in regional service delivery, their capacity to add value to the existing operations, and experience in major capital works programs that can extend or upgrade the existing facilities.

"During the period between now and the new operator assuming responsibility for the operations, Autumn Lodge can guarantee that the residents will experience no change in their experience of its services," Mr Finch said.

"Staff will continue to be employed and will transition to the new operator and the standards, obligations, requirements and duties will be monitored and upheld by the board."

The board confirmed the expression of interest phase was well underway and 9 potential operators were being reviewed.

"By the end of July we hope to have our process of selection finalised and at that point, we will advise the community who it will be and when they will assume responsibility for the Autumn Lodge services," Mr Steller said.

"There has been strong interest and we are confident that there will be a viable, strong provider to take over for the long-term."

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