The resignation of a senior Lyndoch executive today adds fuel to growing concerns around the future of Warrnambool’s community owned aged care home.Carol Altmann – The Terrier
A senior executive at Lyndoch Living resigned today amid mounting concerns over a $22 million medical clinic that will be built by next year.
Dr Ed Rhode (BScMaths, BCompSc, MSME, PhD) was Lyndoch’s Director of Technology, Strategy & Transformation, and a key figure in the Lyndoch executive team.
Dr Rhode had been with Lyndoch for less than two years, despite – according to well-placed sources – being head-hunted for the position from northern Victoria.
His partner, also a Lyndoch employee, has also resigned today.
Prior to Lyndoch, Dr Rhode’s work history included a senior position in the health industry in the Goulburn Valley, where he worked professionally with the now CEO of Lyndoch Living, Doreen Power, in her former role as CEO of Seymour Health.
It’s not clear precisely why Dr Rhode resigned and I have not been able to contact him for comment tonight.
His resignation, however, comes a week after the resignation of two staff within the finance area of Lyndoch, including a senior staff member.
It also comes nine days after Lyndoch’s former Acting Chief Financial Officer Allan Conway went public (via The Terrier) with serious concerns over the proposed $22 million medical clinic and broader fears about Lyndoch’s viability.
Dr Rhode’s resignation also comes a month after that of board member, Percy Eccles, who had been on the Lyndoch board for almost 10 years.
In light of the legal precautions I must operate under when reporting on Lyndoch Living, I am reluctant to join the dots.
I – again – can only hope the board which, to date, has been stony silent, is across all of these resignations, that it is asking why senior people are leaving, that it has followed up with Mr Conway and his concerns, and that it is 100 per cent confident with the medical clinic project as it stands.
The board are the community’s eyes and ears for what is a community owned asset.
To wipe all of this away as being “operational” doesn’t cut it.
Just ask the former Warrnambool City councillors.