There has been a changing of the guard at Millicent’s Boneham Aged Care Services as board chairman Gwenda Lawlor has chosen to stand down after five years in the position.
Current board member Michael Schultz has been appointed as the new chairman of the not for profit organisation which has 300 residents and staff and an annual budget of $14m.
Mr Schultz works for a local accounting firm and has had membership of a number of not for profit boards and sporting clubs over many years.
He is the independent chairman of the Wattle Range Council Audit and Risk Committee.
Meanwhile, retired bureaucrat David Walshaw has recently joined the board of management of Millicent’s Boneham Aged Care Services.
He has wide experience in this field having overseen Millicent’s Sheoak Lodge, Kingston’s Lighthouse Lodge and Penola’s Pinchunga Hostel.
Under his leadership, the 30-bed extension to Sheoak Lodge was completed on time and within budget.
Mr Walshaw is a former chief operating officer for the Adelaide-based RSL Care (SA) which provides accommodation for the veteran community and others in need.
For the past two years, Mr Walshaw has been an elected member of Wattle Range Council and chaired the Millicent community radio station 5THE FM.
His other community interests have included being master of the Millicent Masonic Lodge, chairing the board of management of St Anthony’s Primary School and an underage coach of teams at the Millicent Football Club.
Ms Lawlor will continue as a board member along with Katherine McBride, Julie Clarke, Rob Dycer and Toni McGrath.
Boneham chief executive Michael Filsell has paid tribute to the leadership of Ms Lawlor.
“She has helped the board and management team through a turbulent time in aged care with COVID, regulation and funding changes and a change in management team at Boneham,” Mr Filsell said.
“She has taken on the role as an unpaid volunteer throughout all of that time.
“Ms Lawlor noted that with the incoming new aged care act and the complexities that will bring to governance functions, it is time for a new chairman to help usher the organisation through the changes.
“We would like to thank Ms Lawlor for her service over the last five years and provide our appreciation that Boneham has emerged stronger than ever through the period of her leadership.”
The senior management team at Boneham was unchanged in the past financial year with Mr Filsell having his contract extended for a further five years.
