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CORPORATE
MEDICINE WEB SITE Background to
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as well as the nature and extent of any allegations
made. Material contained here represents my views
based on my study of the operation of the health
care marketplace and the material available to me.
It should not be assumed to represent the views of
any other individual or organisation. Links to Site
Maps
Nursing Hm
Comp Unlisted Comp.
Vic. B
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section Moran Health
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given or its owner. They are reproduced here for
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consider this to be "fair use" in the common
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Content of this web page
This corporate web site addresses the
issues of corporate health care within a
broad framework. A web page describing
this broad context should be considered as
an introduction to each page on the web
site. If you have not yet read it then
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HERE
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Australia's largest nursing home company was
founded by Doug Moran in the 1950's. Over the years
Moran exerted a profound influence on government
policy. Nursing homes were the core of his empire.
The company ran into trouble because of a failed
international investment and bitter family feuds.
Moran is now 81 and the family is fragmented. What
is the company's future?
The
Nursing Home Empire
Mr Moran has threatened to sue the University of Wollongong claiming that the implications I drew from the material were inaccurate and defamatory of him. To resolve the matter amicably I have removed those comments and apologise if I have unintentionally drawn inferences which were not justified by the material. In criticising a social system the interaction between it and its protagonists must receive attention. It is difficult not to step on toes. I leave readers to draw their own conclusions from the published material. This is the information available to the public and to me.
This web site is intended to stimulate discussion about the appropriateness of a competitive market in decrepitude (aged care) and personal misfortune (health). The web pages argue that these are the Samaritan responsibilities of a socially responsible community. They should not be delegated to those whose primary interests are commercial or political. The site is critical of the use of the commercial sector in health and aged care to generate profits for disinterested institutions and shareholders, and vast personal wealth for individuals.
I invite Mr Moran to comment on the material on this and the other Moran web pages. I also invite him to counter the criticisms of the marketplace model in health and aging, confront the conflict between profit and care, and justify the moral basis for marketplace medicine and aged care. My criticisms are intended to stimulate public debate and not law suits. Mr Moran is a committed advocate for the marketplace. He has been a prominent player in the marketisation of health and aging. He will have considered such issues carefully and argued them on many occasions. He is in a good position to respond with authority.
Moran Health Care was and is still primarily a personal nursing home empire. Its more spectacular activities relate to its hospital ventures, and the infighting in the family. Moran was also involved in a number of other business ventures and owned a small number of retirement villages.
The Moran nursing home empire has dominated the sector in Australia. It was the backbone of the company's wealth. It was a participant in a recent bankruptcy in a global venture. It has struggled to sell assets to reduce debt while still claiming a robust financial position.
The Family
Story
The story of Doug Moran’s rise from poverty to one of the most
influential men in Australia followed by a bitter family fued is
described on another page. Moran has total faith in his own ability
and in his strong pro market views. He has no doubts. He has wielded
enormous political influence and likes to get his own way. He has
been an authoritarian man and drove his large family hard.
His credibility was challenged by a bitter and public family dispute through the courts. One son committed suicide and two other children were sacked from the company. His background, his character and his suitability for the role he played in nursing homes and in public life are explored. This web site examines the information publicly available about corporate health care leaders and suggests that the market selects for people with specific characteristics. The Moran family page examines the information available about Doug Moran and his family.
Click Here to explore the Moran family story
During the 1980's and the 1990's Doug Moran was a prominent player in the hospital sector. His plans to build lavish luxury health complexes around major private specialist hospitals serving wealthy Asians received a great deal of publicity. It was driven by his conviction and his ability to engender political support. The ideas were pie in the sky. Moran managed to extricate himself leaving the debts and problems to others.
Moran went into partnership with the controversial US healthcare company Sun Healthcare. Moran sold a 51% holding in 7 hospitals to Sun.
All the company's hospital interests were eventually sold. A separate web page describes these events.
Click Here to examine Moran's involvement in hospitals.
The story of how Doug Moran rose from extreme poverty to wealth and influence is told on the web page describing the story of the family. Doug, a patient, married his nurse Greta and together they opened a nursing home in 1954. Moran built his empire through property deals around the nursing homes he bought. These deals and the nursing homes formed the basis for his wealth. His ventures into hospitals and into the global marketplace were less successful. Initially he managed hospitals and nursing homes for Larry Adler’s FIA. In 1987 one of these facilities was closed down and the others sold to Moran
His first investment was a 16-bed nursing home in 1954 at McMahons Point in Sydney. Thirty-eight years later, the private hospitals and nursing homes are part of a business that includes a health care convention company, a travel division, an aviation charter company, a real estate firm and legal office.
May 1992 The rise of an empire
$100 MILLION & MORE : DOUGLAS MORAN Business Review Weekly May 22, 1992
During the 1970s, FAI and the Moran Health Group established a firm financial base largely at the long-term end of the hospital care market -nursing and convalescent homes.
Jan 1986 relationship with FAI
Hospital Board Considers Offers Australian Financial Review January 6, 1986
Rumours are flying around Waverley that Ellsmore in Evans Street, one of the last great Victorian mansions in the area, is about to bite the dust. Ellsmore, of late, has been functioning as a nursing home owned by FAI Hospitals Limited.
May 1987 About real estate
However, the threat to Government subsidisation of this enterprise has made it less profitable than it was in the past. Recently, all the elderly patients were peremptorily moved out and placed in other FAI nursing homes around Sydney and locals have good reason to believe that an application for demolition is about to be lodged.
LEO AT LARGE Sydney Morning Herald May 23, 1987
Real estate is in Doug Moran's blood. It is the basis of his fortune. Property speculation transformed a middling real-estate agent into a millionaire. The way he describes it sounds easy: one Sydneysider's housing crisis is another's fortune.
Jun 1988 Real estate
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Moran says nursing home returns are low, yet last year he bought eight nursing homes and five hospitals from Larry Adler's FAI Insurance. Why? Basically a nursing home represents a piece of real estate.
PATRON OF THE ARTS OR DICTATOR? Sydney Morning Herald June 4, 1988
Mr Doug Moran's unlisted company, Moran Health Care Group, has also been expanding aggressively in the past year, purchasing FAI Insurances Ltd's collection of private hospitals and nursing homes for $35 million and spending another $65 million on developments.
Dec 1988 Expansion
MALAISE HITS PRIVATE HOSPITAL BOOM Australian Financial Review December 12, 1988
The wealthy are more profitable
Moran targeted the wealthy sections of the aging population - those who could pay more.
A Moran innovation is to enter the "exempt" nursing home field, that is, where wealthier clients are able to pay add-on fees in return for convenient five-star facilities. "We are planning to rebuild our Rose Bay Hospital into an exempt nursing home with en suites and silver service," he says. "Many old people there are living in homes worth $1 million-plus with 24-hour nursing care. It is cheaper for them and their families to sell up and enjoy facilities that match their eastern-suburbs lifestyle." His Bellevue hospital overlooking Bondi Beach may also become an exempt nursing home.
Oct 1994 "Exempt" nursing homes
DOUG MORAN'S FAMILY ELIXIR Business Review Weekly October 10, 1994
Moran and
Westpac
From early times Doug Moran had close associations with the banks who
supported him. Westpac
joined him in his grand plan to build the failed Taj Mahal hospitals.
The market crash in the 1980s did not help. Moran got the better of
these deals in a protracted court battle and Westpac was left with
most of the losses. Moran saw nursing homes as a stepping stone into
a hospital empire.
The failed venture on the Gold Coast has put an end to the expansionist plans of Moran and family - for the time being.
Mar 1993 Profitable Westpac relationship sours
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His main company is the Moran Health Care Group Pty Ltd which reported a loss of $2.3 million in the 1991 financial year. The group comprises more than 25 subsidiaries in the nursing home, private hospital, travel, property and real estate fields.
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Step by careful step, Doug Moran, 68, former real estate salesman, had built his business over 40 years - from a Mums and Dads nursing home outfit into a medical conglomerate now encompassing six retirement villages, 22 nursing homes and 10 private hospitals. He planned to go further, developing medical Taj Mahals - townships of villas, hotels, spas and hospitals - in three States.
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All along, his Moran group had grown with the help of Westpac's subsidiary, Australian Guarantee Corporation. AGC was his financier for decades and the partnership seemed set to continue forever - until the property crashes of the 1990s. Now Westpac is trying to dispose of all AGC's ill-fated joint property ventures, and the Moran-AGC team marriage has ended up in the casualty ward.
DOUG MOVES ON Australian Financial Review March 5, 1993
Moran sees his nursing homes, with 2000 beds, as a cash cow financing expansion in private hospitals, currently with 600 beds. The market value of a bed licence is $60,000-130,000. His optimally sized and profitable 100-bed nursing homes achieve occupancies of 99% (that is, they have a continual waiting list). Recommendations in the recent Gregory report on nursing-home funding would have the effect of improving profits for Moran and other efficient operators by several million dollars a year.
Oct 1994 Nursing homes the backbone of the empire
DOUG MORAN'S FAMILY ELIXIR Business Review Weekly October 10, 1994
Moran’s political connections and the influence he had on the political system is discussed on the family page. He won bed licences and contracts from the Victorian government - most on very favourable terms. Not only did the coalition Victorian government award contracts but it secretly made payments to Moran and others to entice them. A new labour government stopped this. The company also won contracts from the federal government
The Victorian Government has awarded a contract to own and operate five new nursing homes to Moran Healthcare. This is the first instance of privatisation of the nursing care market in Victoria, and advances Moran Healthcare to market leader among the States private nursing home operators.
Jun 1997 Contracts in Victoria
PRESS DIGEST Reuters News June 25, 1997
The Victorian Government has abandoned privatisation of State nursing homes after revealing agreements for secret payments of millions of dollars to the new private operators.
Apr 2000 Policy reversed
This will be a significant blow to private operators, particularly the Moran Healthcare Group, which was short-listed to take over a further 400 beds under the Kennett Government privatisation plan.
The State's Minister for Aged Care, Ms Bronwyn Pike, revealed yesterday taxpayers would have to pay private operators $17 million during the next 10 years as part of existing contracts.
The special top-up funding was offered as a confidential incentive.
What They Said The West Australian April 1, 2000
The Kennett Government planned to privatise its 3,000 public beds throughout the State and had tendered off 485 beds before it lost power
Apr 2000 Kennett government gave contracts to Moran
----------------------------
Ms Pike also released documents detailing how the majority of the private nursing homes had gone to the Moran Healthcare Group. The group is owned by one of Australia's richest families and is headed by Mr Doug Moran, who Ms Pike told Parliament yesterday had been a long-time Liberal Party member up to 1998.
Secret Deals Sink Nursing Home Sell-off Australian Financial Review April 5, 2000
The Minister for Aged Care, Bronwyn Bishop, has unveiled a placement and capital grants program worth $200 million nationally - - - - .
Jan 2001 Federal government support
------------------------
Seventy-five of the 130 new aged care places have been awarded to the Moran Health Care Group which the News understands will result in a new, multi-million dollar aged care home being built in Port Macquarie.
Massive boost for aged care Port Maquarie News January 15, 2001
The Howard Government has overseen a major shift to private ownership of NSW's nursing homes, and the Liberal Party stalwart Mr Doug Moran is a multi-million-dollar winner from the move.
Mar 2001 Federal licence allocations to Moran
Estimates are that the Moran Health Care Group has won bed licences worth almost $10million in the past two years. The beds make up about 12 per cent of Australia's new nursing home places well above the Moran Group's 3.5 per cent share of the national nursing home market.
------------------------
Mr Moran's good fortune is part of a shift that the Government acknowledges resulted last year in 67 per cent of new nursing home beds in NSW going to the private sector, which traditionally has had little more than 31 per cent of beds in the State, where the Moran group has just 3 per cent of the market.
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The Moran Group won 187 hostel beds and 59 nursing home beds in the 1999 allocation estimated to be worth $4.35 million and 372 hostel beds and 45 nursing home beds, worth $6 million, in the 2000 allocation.
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Nursing home bed allocations give the recipients access to an annual government subsidy of about $35,000 for each nursing home bed and about $10,000 for hostel beds.
Moran The Big Winner As Aged Care Goes Private Sydney Morning Herald March 16, 2001
The move comes after the Moran Health Care Group handed back 250 of its high-cost bed allocations, because it said Government subsidies were not enough to make the beds viable.
Apr 2001 Doug gives them back
Aged Care Group Cites Poor Funding As It Closes Beds Sydney Morning Herald April 5, 2001
Moran and Principal Healthcare
It seems that when Moran took over FAI’s hospitals and homes a trust was set up with FAI -- Assisted Living Unit Trust ("ALUT") . The multinational Omega Worlldwide bought this from FAI in 1998 and changed the name to Principal Healthcare. AMP also became a major player in Principal Healthcare. Moran leased the homes from Principal. In 1999 Moran sold another 25 of its homes to Principal and leased them back. Moran was tied into a 30 year lease and was responsible for maintenance. Moran also sold off the remainder of its hospitals. These sales funded expansion into the UK and Ireland. Moran might also have needed capital to upgrade the homes to new government standards and to move into areas where others would be forced to close homes which would be too costly to upgrade.
Concurrently with ALUT's acquisition by Worldwide, ALUT's name was changed to Principal Healthcare Finance Trust ("PHFT"). PHFT leased the ten nursing homes and the assisted living units to an affiliate of Moran HealthCare Group Pty Limited, - - - - -
Jun 1998 Forming Principal Healthcare
Omega Worldwide Inc. Announces Acquisition of Australian Unit Trust Business Wire June 26, 1998
Omega Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq:OWWI) ("Worldwide") and Principal Healthcare Finance Trust ("PHFT"), an Australian Unit Trust, announced today the successful completion and funding of A$55 million in equity and subdebt to enable the expansion and growth of PHFT's healthcare finance activities in the Commonwealth of Australia.
Apr 1999 Principal and Moran
-------------------------------
PHFT is managed by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Worldwide. AMP's investment will be managed by AMP Asset Management Australia Ltd.PHFT was organized in 1998 to provide investment capital for the healthcare and aged care industries in the Commonwealth of Australia. In June 1998, PHFT acquired from FAI Insurance Ltd. 10 nursing home properties and 475 assisted living units. In November 1998, the Company also purchased from Moran Healthcare Group Pty Ltd. ("Moran") 25 nursing homes in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. All properties owned by PHFT are now operated by Moran under long-term operating leases.
Omega Worldwide Announces Investment by AMP Life Ltd. in Australian Venture Business Wire April 6, 1999
It (Lidis) has outlaid $2.1 million for the Petersham Private Hospital, in Sydney's inner west, acquiring it from Moran Health Care as Moran raises cash to sustain a major expansion into UK retirement villages.
May 1999 Raising cash to go global in retirement villages
$2m Hospital Is Lidis's Entree To Aged Care Sector Australian Financial Review May 19, 1999
Moran expects further rationalisation in aged care. "There will be a fallout of smaller players. Many Victorian facilities don't even have laundries and kitchens. The problem with most homes is that they are of very poor quality, and we would not be interested in paying for them. We would rather build from scratch. You will see a lot of homes driven out of business in South Australia and Victoria because they won't be compliant in 2001. The churches will remain significant players."
Jun 1999 Moran and rationalisation
Health Care, Or Wealth Care? Business Review Weekly June 11, 1999
The Moran family sold and leased back the assets to Principal in 1999 in a bid to finance a since-curtailed UK expansion.
May 2003 Sale was to finance international expansion
Ramsay, DCA jockey for Moran's aged - care assets Australian Financial Review May 27, 2003
Moran’s international expansion into Europe was done in association with Principal Healthcare. Principal owned the facilities and Moran leased and operated them. Moran Healthcare also moved into Singapore and China.
Omega Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ:OWWI) ("Worldwide") announced today the acquisition of 19.9 percent of Baneberry Healthcare Limited, a private operator of 35 nursing homes in Northern Ireland and England.
Aug 1998 Baneberry and Sandown in the UK
Baneberry is the operator of the Sandown Group, the largest group of homes in Northern Ireland, and is partially owned by Moran Healthcare Group of Sydney, Australia.
OWWI Announces Investment in Operating Companies Business Wire August 1, 1998
Moran has aggressively looked overseas. The company acquired the British Sandown Group, which was then used as a platform for expansion into Ireland. Shane Moran says the company wants to develop 30 facilities in Ireland, mainly for priests and nuns. "The church appealed to us to come up with a solution."
Jun 1999 Ireland and China
In Shanghai, the approach is cautious. The Chinese provide the sites and Moran develops the infrastructure and provides the trained staff. Moran says he is looking to derive 15-20% of revenue from Asia and may get as much as 50% of revenue from Britain and Ireland, where margins are much higher. Costs in Britain are 55% of revenue, compared with more than 70% in Australia.
Health Care, Or Wealth Care? Business Review Weekly June 11, 1999
The venture into Ireland and the UK was soon in trouble. No one wanted to buy it. Moran pulled the plug and walked away leaving 20% owner Principal Healthcare to run the homes. The British based company went into receivership. The consequence for the residents is not recorded.
Northern Ireland's biggest care-home operator - and one of the province's largest employers - went into receivership yesterday after failing to find a buyer. Baneberry Healthcare, which employs 2,300, is 80% owned by Australia's Moran Healthcare Group.
Dec 2001 Baneberry goes under
Health group mulls offers. Sunday Business December 2, 2001
English-based Baneberry, which acquired Northern Ireland's largest group of private nursing homes in 1997 after buying the family run Sandown Group, owns a total of 39 care homes throughout England and Northern Ireland.
Dec 2001 The Baneberrry story
The company bought the Sandown Group, founded by Dr Cecil Stewart for an undisclosed sum four years ago.
Baneberry Healthcare, which was 80 per cent owned by Moran Healthcare, based in England, is now expected to be run by Principal Healthcare, which holds a 20 per cent stake.
----------------------------------
Dr Cecil Stewart built up the Sandown Group to become the largest privately-owned healthcare group in the UK, before selling off the network of 30 private nursing homes to Baneberry Healthcare. Baneberry was subsequently taken over by Moran Healthcare Group, the largest provider of such services in Australia.In a brief statement, company director Peter Moran said: "It is extremely unfortunate, but due to the financial difficulties of these companies the directors had no alternative but to invite the appointment of receivers.
Baneberry Healthcare appoints receiver Belfast News Letter December 4, 2001
Staff were told by letter of the company's impending collapse. It is understood that Moran Healthcare withdrew support from Baneberry because of difficulties with running costs.
Dec 2001 Principal owns the UK and Irish facilities
Sources close to company said they were aware that a number of small and medium-sized suppliers to the homes in Northern Ireland had not been paid recently.
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Principal Healthcare owns almost 9,000 nursing home beds across Britain. It is landlord to Baneberry, renting it properties. It has had problems with insolvent tenants in the past. In 1999, Idun, previously called Tamaris, went into receivership and was taken over by Principal.
Losses plunge Northern Ireland care home firm into receivership The Sunday Times December 2, 2001
Is Moran Health Care in Trouble?
The Moran family has insisted that the company's financial position was sound and that the extensive sale of nursing homes was in order to retire debt and prepare for new ventures.
Moran had a 30 year lease on about 39 of Principal's homes and Moran was responsible for maintenance at a time when government was insisting on upgrades. Moran wanted to sell these businesses. DCA and Ramsay were both interested in the business but wanted to buy the homes as well. Principal refused to sell at the price they were prepared to pay. There is insufficient information to indicate whether Principal's position was influenced by their experience in the UK, or Moran's past dispute with Westpac.
Moran eventually sold a number of other homes to the Macquarie bank consortium. Moran also put his own mansion on the market.
It is far from clear from the reports what the business is really worth. The press calls it a $300 million empire. If Moran does not own the nursing homes then what fixed properties underpin its value. The press in 1993 reported that Moran had a dispensation from authorities and is not required to make audited accounts public. I do not know if this persists.
These sales and the change in the company’s policies coincided with a major conflict within the family, some of whom left the business.
The financial detail of the group and the ultimate holding company, D.J. Moran Nominees, is difficult to obtain, as a deed of cross guarantee granted in May 1992 by the Australian Securities Commisssion releases all the companies in the group from producing individual accounts and having them audited.
Mar 1993 Financial dispensation
DOUG MOVES ON Australian Financial Review March 5, 1993
NURSING home magnate Doug Moran will sell the bulk of his $300 million empire to competitors in a move that could have massive implications for the aged care sector.
May 2003 Trying to sell off most of the business
While the sell-off will drastically reduce the stake of the nation's biggest private nursing home operator, the Moran Health Care Group wants to "free up" cash to build new homes and wipe out debt.
---------------------------
Aged care competitor Ramsay Health Care has been circling for more than 3000 beds up for sale, but The Australian understands another aged care provider, DCA Group Ltd, is in the box seat for the purchase.
-----------------------------
Mr (Mark) Moran added part of the proceeds of the sale would be used to clear debt, but denied that one of the nation's most controversial family companies was in financial strife.
-------------------------
Doug Moran is locked in a battle with son Shane over an unfair dismissal case brought against the family company by the former chief executive. "We do not have huge debt but, that said, there's still a reasonable amount of debt there. Doug's thinking is to remove most of it, if not all of it," Mark Moran said.
Moran to sell off aged care empire The Australian May 15, 2003
- - - - what is clear is that the Moran family will not collect more than one-fifth of the sale proceeds.
May 2003 Moran assets could be smaller than appears
The reason is that health-care magnate Doug Moran has already sold 38 of his 50-odd nursing homes to Principal Healthcare, which is owned by United States giant Omega Worldwide and AMP Henderson.
The properties are held in Principal Healthcare Financial Trust No. 1 and No. 2. Moran Health Care has long-term leases and management rights over the properties. It owns seven to 10 homes directly, including ones in Rose Bay and Karringbah.
Investment - Moran empire fight heats up. Australian Financial Review May 16, 2003
The Moran family sold and leased back the assets to Principal in 1999 in a bid to finance a since-curtailed UK expansion. Principal made its thoughts known last week that any deal would have to have its approval before being agreed to.
May 2003 Principal gets tough and has Moran over a barrel
--------------------------
It is believed that Principal views this as unlikely because it has securitised the assets and on-sold the income from the homes through a 28-year bond issue which has 26 years to run.
----------------------------------
The outright sale is the preferred option for both Ramsay and DCA as the complex existing leases would come at a significant cost burden to which ever company stepped into the management role.
-------------------------
The so-called triple-net lease, which runs for 30 years, requires the lessee to pay all rates and outgoings as well as any maintenance of the facilities, some of which are in need of urgent upgrades. This would include a substantial capital expenditure outlay to allow many of the homes to retain their Commonwealth accreditation as aged-care facilities.On top of that comes annual rent increases, indexed to the consumer price index, of at least 3 per cent.
Ramsay, DCA jockey for Moran's aged - care assets Australian Financial Review May 27, 2003
Doug Moran, a 78-year-old Australian healthcare mogul, is hoping to set real estate records in Sydney, Australia with the sale of his historical Sydney mansion, called Swifts, which he wants to sell for nearly $26 million, according to published reports.
Dec 2003 Moran sells his home
Australian Healthcare Mogul Wants Mega-millions December 12, 2003 http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/realestate/2003/12/12/cx_bs_1212movers.html
RETIREMENT Care Australia, 95 per cent owned by Macquarie Capital Alliance Group, will pay $186 million for 11 nursing homes and the lease on another property from the Moran Group.
Aug 2005 Moran sells most of the homes it owns
The Moran Group will continue to manage about 1000 beds in these nursing homes.
Moran's operations director Mark Moran told The Australian yesterday that RCA would pay $128million in cash and assume liabilities of $58million.
Morans picks up $186m on 12 homes The Australian August 18, 2005
Update December 2006 -- Moran has now sold the leases and operation of the 39 Principal owned nursing homes to "Principal Aged Care" which plans to operate them itself. Moran will help in management for 2 years.
THE AMP-controlled Principal Aged Care group concluded a $129.3 million deal yesterday to take over the leases and operation of aged-care homes from Moran Health Care Group.
Oct 2006 Principal buys from Moran and will run homes
-----------------------------
Moran's director of operations, Mark Moran, said these two deals allowed the company to retire all debts.
Principal takes up Moran's leases The Australian October 31, 2006
AMP-managed funds have controlled the freehold of the properties in a complex structure since 1998 and stymied attempts by rival operators to acquire the portfolio.
Oct 2006 Moran a big seller
----------------------------------------
The Moran family has been a big seller of nursing homes as the industry consolidates.
AMP's Principal Aged Care vaults to second spot Australian Financial Review October 31, 2006
Doug Moran has boasted about the standards of care in his nursing home empire and this has seldom been openly challenged. Press reports indicate that there were major problems in a nursing home in 2000 and again at another home in 2003. Another home performed suboptimally in 2006. Because of Moran's leading position and size any failures in care are a matter of concern. It has the organisational structure and resources to closely monitor its operations and the staff to correct problems. It cannot be compared with the small for profit groups operating one or two homes. That the accreditation agency should be the first to detect problems is consequently worrying.
Both the minister and Moran were incensed when what the minister called a "rogue" web site published information about accreditation failure and serious risk in the first Moran home. They claimed it was defamatory and that the serious risk no longer existed. Another accreditation inspection had not been carried out let alone posted publicly. One must ask why the track record of the nursing home should not be available to potential residents. They are the customers and if a market system is to work then the customers must be empowered with the knowledge and ability to choose. A company's track record is very important.
The focus on care may have shifted at some of the nursing homes during the family crisis and the sales difficulties. The conditions found by regulators and described in the press report at Annondale in 2003 were shocking. As with most other problem homes we must ask whether understaffing and a failure to purchase needed equipment (i.e. cost cutting) were at the heart of this.
The Greenmount Gardens Nursing Centre in Western Australia failed 9 of the 44 criteria in October 2006 but the accreditation was not reduced on the basis that the company was correcting the problems. They were non-compliant in Human resource management, Information systems, Clinical care, Medication management, Pain management, Palliative care, Nutrition and hydration, Behavioural management and Leisure interests and activities. Seven of these relate to the care of residents and one to the management of staff on whom this care depends.
No hint of scandal has attached to his nursing homes. In an industry tainted by the few, Moran has a clean record. He believes he provides the best facilities for the price.
Jun 1988 Some reservations
But a nursing home inspector, who cannot be named, said: "He runs a fair service, average quality ... he meets our requirements without providing a level of excellence."
PATRON OF THE ARTS OR DICTATOR? Sydney Morning Herald June 4, 1988
REBECCA BARRETT: Indeed one of those facilities listed on Nancy's website (advocate web site which listed agency reports when the agency www site was down) was so upset it contacted the Agency this morning. In March last year a review audit of the Meadow Heights Nursing Centre in Victoria found it to be at serious risk in terms of the quality of care it provided. But since then it's shown such an improvement it's now been asked to apply for accreditation.
Mar 2000 Outcry because audit report made available
James Hayman is the Aged Care Operations Manager at Moran Health Care, which runs the Meadow Heights facility.
JAMES HAYMAN: We were outraged, of course, because . (a) because the report was so far out of date and there was obviously no serious risk at all now and the Agency have acknowledged that.
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REBECCA BARRETT: The problem is no-one knew that Meadow Heights was no longer a serious risk because the Agency's website was still down when the Centre was cleared last month. The Agency is slowly adding more audit reports to its website today, but there's still no new information about Meadow Heights.
Reports missing from nursing website Radio National March 1, 2000
Mr Horne put questions on notice yesterday to Aged Care Minister Bronwyn Bishop in regard to the Moran Health Care facility (OBAN Aged Care Facility), which he said failed to meet 12 out of 31 national minimum standards in 1998.
Mar 2000 Standards and plans for closure
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Mrs Bishop was asked if she was aware that since December 1998, Oban had operated with only 49 beds when it was actually licensed for 68.
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She also was told that elderly people who had lived in Raymond Terrace all their lives were being forced to leave the area to find aged care because Oban,the only local facility, was running 19 beds under capacity.Although Oban failed to meet a number of standards, the Commonwealth had granted a 12-month extension to upgrade the facility, according to Mr Horne.
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Moran Health Care has been accused of wanting to transfer bed licences to a new facility it plans to build at Bagnalls Beach. We do not have a single aged care facility in Raymond Terrace if Oban goes,' Mr Horne said.
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Already a number of elderly couples have allegedly been torn apart because partners have been forced to move to other aged care facilities outside of Raymond Terrace.
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Moran Health Care bought Oban nursing home two years ago with a conditionthat it rebuild the facility by June 2000, but it has been given a 12-month extension.
Hunter Facility Raises Questions Newcastle Herald (Australia) March 7, 2000
RESIDENTS at a Sydney nursing home run by the millionaire Moran family were subjected to outbreaks of scabies, forced to use toilets covered with faeces and wandered off for days at a time unnoticed.
Nov 2003 Another nursing home failure
Other residents of the Moran Health Care Group's Annandale Nursing Home were bitten and had their toenails trimmed so rarely that they became "long, thickened and brown."
Despite finding that residents were at "severe risk" less than a month ago, the agency decided last Friday to extend the Moran Health Care Group's licence to operate the home until March 2004.
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One elderly resident of the Annandale home disappeared from the home in September, collapsed on the street and was found the next day in hospital.
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The Daily Telegraph understands the director of nursing and the deputy director of nursing at Annandale have recently been sacked.
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Filthy equipment and unclean toiletsInvestigators said residents of the Annandale Nursing Home were:
- Wheeled naked through the home to the shower
- Forced to share bath towels with other residents because there are not enough to go around
- Lifted into bed with harnesses smeared with blood and "other body fluids"
Dirty secrets of millionaire's nursing home Daily Telegraph November 3, 2003
Human resource management:- Staff and resident feedback indicated that staff shortages, coupled with reduced shifts, are adversely affecting care delivery and activity programs respectively. In addition, staff have insufficient time to become familiar with/read residents' care plans, consistently complete care documentation, fulfil the requirements of specialist roles, or to meet to discuss/plan/evaluate the activity programs.
Oct 2006 Greenmount Gardens Nursing Centre --- TheWest Australian home caters specifically for patients with dementia
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Information systems :- The home's information management systems are ineffective in consistently meeting the information needs of staff and in providing a means of monitoring the quality of care delivered to residents. The multiple documentation systems in use at the home cause confusion for staff and there is inconsistent use of documentation across the site. Changes in residents' clinical conditions are not consistently documented and communicated to staff. - - - - Staff report having insufficient time for planning/evaluating the activity programs.
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Clinical care:- The home's system for delivery of clinical care does not ensure residents receive care that is appropriate to their needs and preferences. Staff do not have access to clinical procedural guidelines for the range of clinical procedures undertaken at the home. - - - - Resident and relative feedback generally indicated satisfaction with the care provided, although four residents and representatives reporting that staff are "too rushed".
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Medication management:- The home does not have systems and processes in place to ensure that residents' medication is managed safely and correctly. - - - - - Care staff do not consistently follow medication orders when administering medications, resulting in residents not receiving medications as prescribed.
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Pain management:- Care staff are not consistently following processes in relation to pain management and therefore not effectively ensuring that all residents are as free from pain as possible.
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Palliative care:- The home does not have systems in place to ensure that the comfort and dignity of terminally ill residents is maintained. There are limited policies and procedures to guide staff on the provision of palliative care to residents. The care plans do not reflect the complexity of the care required for nursing terminally ill residents. Staff do not have access to specific resources, nor have they attended education in palliative care to assist them to meet the needs of the residents and their families.
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Nutrition and hydration:- - - - - - , the system for ongoing monitoring of residents' food and fluid intake is not effectively identifying residents at risk of not receiving adequate nutrition and hydration. These residents are not routinely referred for specialist dietary input and do not have action or management plans in place to manage weight loss. Changes to residents' diet or fluid intake are not consistently reflected in the care documentation.
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Behavioural management:- The home's systems that assist staff to manage the needs of residents with challenging behaviours are ineffective. Staff practices do not reflect knowledge of, or adherence to, the policy, procedure, and documentation related to behaviour management, including restraint. Care planning does not identify the needs of residents with challenging behaviours. Accident/incident forms are not routinely completed nor actions instigated for behavioural-related incidents as outlined in the home's policies.
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Leisure interests and activities:- The activity program does not always incorporate activities suitable for residents with cognitive, communication or physical limitations. There are no qualified staff to conduct specific assessments of residents with complex needs or create an appropriate activity/therapy program for these residents, including guidelines for specific one-on-one interventions. - - - - Feedback from residents and representatives indicated that there are insufficient activities on offer to prevent isolation and boredom.
Report of the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency October 2006
Although Moran’s primary business has been nursing homes it has operated a number of retirement villages some built around the nursing homes. In 2006 it sold its NSW and Western Australian villages to Aevum
But he bought the land around the nursing homes and started building retirement villages. "You get a very good return on those units."
Jun 1988 First villages
PATRON OF THE ARTS OR DICTATOR? Sydney Morning Herald June 4, 1988
But Moran Health Care Group, which has 22 nursing homes, 10 private hospitals and five retirement villages, remains the core business.
Apr 1990 Five villages
DOUGLAS MORAN Business Review Weekly April 6, 1990
Moran built the first of his six retirement villages, Paddington Place, in Caloundra, Queensland, in 1981, and now gets a strong income stream from project management, sale of units, rentals and deferred management fees.
Oct 1994 Six villages on deferred payment contracts
The deferred fees range from 10% in the first year and 5% for later years, with a maximum of 35%. Because they are linked to resale price, not original price, they move in step with the property market. In the case of Bossley Gardens, built seven years ago near Fairfield, NSW, the 29 units fetched about $69,000 each and are now being resold for about $140,000. The capital gain, less about$12,000 in deferred management fees, goes to the families' estate.
Moran says the typical occupancy of a retirement village resident is 8-10 years, and 3-5 years for someone in a serviced unit. A mature complex will have a 15% annual turnover of units (33% for serviced units), generating an annual return on capital of about 20%.
DOUG MORAN'S FAMILY ELIXIR Business Review Weekly October 10, 1994
Added Oct 2007
Shane Moran estranged son of Doug Moran has gone into partnership with ex-liberal leader John Hewson and controversial PrimeLife retirement village operator Ted Sent in a rehabilitation business. Because Sent is barred from being a director, because of past conduct, it is claimed that he plays no part in running the business. Sent owns 80% of the business. Knowing what we do of him can at PrimeLife can we believe this? This is only one of their ambitious projects together.
Dr Hewson and his business partner, aged care industry king Shane Moran, are directors of People First Retirement Living, which plans to develop a chain of retirement homes, including heritage-listed Macedon House in Gisborne.
Jul 2007 Shane and John Hewson
Mr Sent - who was banned from serving as a director for six months in the mid-1990s - and parties related to him control 80 per cent of the group.
Last month Dr Hewson and Mr Moran each bought about 10 per cent of the company and were appointed directors.
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"He (Mr Sent) doesn't attend board meetings unless we ask him," Dr Hewson said."We are unconstrained in how we run the business."
Hewson, Moran join Sent company The Herald Sun July 31, 2007
Moran has also been accused of a conflict of interest as he has established an estate agency to sell the homes of citizens wanting to enter one of the villages. Like Mirvac Fini and Gandel Retirement Enterprises its sale contracts have been disputed by residents who consider they were exploited.
Early this year, the group launched its cash-back plan in which clients wanting to move to a Moran retirement unit can get independent valuations of their family home, and the Morans will acquire it and give them the net proceeds of the swap. This spares the clients the frustrations of a normal house sale. Moran foresees that the group eventually will own up to 10,000 retirement units.
Oct 1994 Moran buys back the units and sells them itself
DOUG MORAN'S FAMILY ELIXIR Business Review Weekly October 10, 1994
NURSING home tycoon Doug Moran is about to be embroiled in litigation - again.
Mar 2002 Contract litigation
This time he is being sued by a retired World War II veteran and his invalid pensioner wife.
For the multi-millionaire chairman of the Moran family empire, it must seem like another day, another lawsuit in what is beginning to resemble a personal legal logjam.
Arthur Pettett, 77, and his wife Eva have filed a statement of claim for damages in the NSW District Court against the Moran Health Care Group, two subsidiaries (Moran Real Estate and Wisteria Investments) and two Moran Real Estate agents.
The Pettetts allege that unfair pressure was used to induce them to buy a unit in a Moran retirement village, and that they were given assurances that were misleading, deceptive and a contravention of the Trade Practices Act.
They also claim the $170,000 unit they bought in 1997 at Mountain View Retirement Village in Murwillumbah, NSW, was not sold at a fair market value because of conduct amounting to deceit.
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"My clients are elderly and retired and don't have huge resources, but they have been disadvantaged by a ruthless multinational group. It is a story of human desperation."
War veteran to take on Moran The Australian March 18, 2002
Separately, Aevum told the Australian Stock Exchange that it was in the "final stages" of exclusive negotiations with the Moran Health Care Group to acquire its NSW and Western Australian retirement villages.
Jun 2006 Sells villages to Aevum
Babcock says ageing 'no cottage industry' Australian Financial Review June 23, 2006
Although the bulk of its business has been in aged care Doug Moran and members of his family have been involved in multiple other businesses.
NURSING homes, hospitals, hotels. Sydney. 65. Married, seven children. Douglas Moran's business empire, built on private health care, has expanded into travel, health-care conventions, aviation charter, property and legal work.
Apr 1990 Breadth of operations
DOUGLAS MORAN Business Review Weekly April 6, 1990
Doug Moran is aged 81. He has survived prostate cancer (1993) and a series of family fueds. His children Brendan, Kerry and Shane have departed the company. He still maintains tight control of the company and strongly asserts his capacity to do so. Youngest son Mark seems to be Moran’s heir apparent. Hospitals have gone. Most if not all of the retirement villages are gone. The company now owns few if any nursing homes and the state of its other businesses is unknown.
Moran Health Care now seems to be primarily an operator of nursing homes leased from others. It claims that it is in a sound position and the recent sales have left it free of debt and in a position to expand through "greenfield sites".
Earlier this week, son Mark Moran, head of operations, was reported as saying that while the money from the sale would be used to flick some debt, there were no financial troubles for the family.
May 2003 Claiming a good financial position
Family values and home truths - Mystery surrounds future of $300m Moran empire. Daily Telegraph May 17, 2003
Doug Moran, 81, the founder of the Moran Healthcare Group, is another elderly businessman who has avoided naming a successor and is unlikely to relinquish control before he dies. Moran, the executive chairman, says he controls the company. "I'm involved in all our activities and all decision making because it is a family company." Of his seven children, three work in the business. Mark is director of operations; Peter manages the property interests and Barbara handles personnel
May 2006 Moran still rules at 81
Moran, who has fallen out with his other children in bitter and public family feuds (- - - - ) is quick to point out that he sits above his children in the hierarchy. "Over the top of this you need the entrepreneur that sees the deals. My role is to vet everything because it is a family fortune that has built up through my wife and I over 50 years and you have got to control the monetary side of it because the younger generation are not as conscious as we are, having lived through the Depression."
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When asked directly about succession, Moran talks about a property trust and instructions left in his will for the three of his seven children who are still in favour. "The three family members have power of attorney and our wills have stipulated what we want them to do to follow our directions as best they can. They have accepted that. The three of them live in what I term 'the comfort zone'. They are part of the history that has been built by their mother and father and we hope that they continue that."
Young at heart BRW May 18, 2006
Moran Group is now on the look out for greenfield sites where it can recycle the sale profits into potentially higher yielding development opportunities.
Oct 2003 Looking for opportunities
Moran Group director of operations Mark Moran said the transaction strengthened the group's financial position for growth. He said Moran Group still managed more than 4000 beds.
AMP's Principal Aged Care vaults to second spot Australian Financial Review October 31, 2006
Doug Moran uses funds from sales to rebuild his empire (October 2007)
Doug and Greta are moving to use the proceeds from the recent sales to rebuild their empire.
MORAN Health Care Group is negotiating to buy three greenfields nursing home sites in outer Sydney as the family moves to rebuild its aged-care empire.
Feb 2007 Rebuilding the empire
The group will receive a cash injection from the $129 million sale of its leasehold over 39 homes to the AMP-backed Principal Aged Care, which is due to settle today.
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Mr Moran, 82, said he and Greta, 75, his wife and co-founder of the company, would be heavily involved with the new direction of the group."Greta and I are very excited about moving back to what we did 50 years ago," Mr Moran said.
"It's our life. I don't play golf, don't go fishing, I have very little interest in anything else."
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Moran group executive director of operations Mark Moran said the aim was to build and own about 200 nursing home beds a year with an investment of around $24 million annually, including site and building costs.In NSW, the company will initially focus on mass-market high-care nursing homes.
Under the deal with Principal, Moran group will receive $87.2 million. Principal also takes on liabilities of $42.1 million for the leasehold of the 3068 beds in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia.
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In late 2005, Moran's other big portfolio of 11 nursing homes (1010 beds) was sold to Macquarie Bank's Retirement Care Australia for $189 million.
Moran rebuilds its old empire The Australian February 1, 2007
To read the full text of many of the recent and many other articles describing what happened in 2007 in more detail go to the Aged Care Crisis search web page. <http://www.agedcarecrisis.com/acc/search.asp> Fill in the "Keyword" (eg name). Click on the "news" button and then "Search"
Moran Healthcare web site is at http://www.moranhealthcare.com.au/
For Updates:- A good way to check for recent developments in aged care is to go to the aged care crisis group's search page and enter the name of the company, nursing home or key words relating to any other matter in the search box. Most significant press reports are flagged there. The aged care crisis web site has recently been restructured and some of the older links used from this site may not work.
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History
This page created Sept 2006 by
Michael
Wynne
Last entry Jan 2007, Oct 2007
