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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2024
END of an era for Portland’s Seaview House as former (mostly unpaid) manager and Board of Management member Myra Bourke retires.
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Seaview House stalwart defender takes final bow
GABRIEL GARCIA
IT is the end of an era for Portland Seaview House with the retirement of stalwart Myra Bourke.
Last Friday Mrs Bourke stepped down from her position on the Seaview House Board of Management, thus ending an association with the aged care facility that spans more than a decade. Many believe that without Mrs Bourke, Seaview House wouldn’t be operating today. Mrs Bourke put thousands of hours into volunteering at the cliff-top facility - including almost seven years as the unpaid manager of the facility. “My relationship with Seaview House started way back in May 2012 when the hospital (Portland District Health) had decided in January 2011 to close Seaview House, and they gave the residents two years notice,” Mrs Bourke said. The State Government at the time told concerned locals that Seaview House could continue to operate as an incorporated body.
A public meeting, held in May 2012 and attended by more than 80 people, saw the formation of a steering committee that was determined to save the aged care facility. Mrs Bourke volunteered for the committee, starting her long association with Seaview House. “Don’t ask me why, I put my hand up. Probably stupidly,” Mrs Bourke said. “So, a steering committee was formed because there were a lot of things we had to do. “The hospital played hard ball. “They wanted the building for other uses, and they did not want it to continue as a supported residential service. So, we had to raise money. And the figure they wanted us to raise was $300,000. “We had to have a business plan but alongside that we also had to satisfy the Department of Health, who was responsible for supported residential services at that time.” Mrs Bourke became chairperson of the steering
committee and helped write the constitution of Seaview House and lead the group alongside Margaret Johnston. “She came from a business background. I came from a caring background,” Mrs Bourke said. The $300,000 was eventually raised by the community, helped along by Mrs Bourke’s ingenuity. “I had this catch cry that if we had 100 people give us $1000 that’s $100,000,” she said. “We had all sorts of catch cries at the time that were gimmicky and there were a lot of people that gave us a lot of money.” With the money raised and the business plan and constitution written up, by January 2013 it was time for someone to take the reins of Seaview House. Again, Mrs Bourke stepped up. Though the task was daunting, Mrs Bourke was able to rely on her past career experience - having previously worked as a director of nursing for Portland District Health between 1995 and 2002,
Picture: LEESA COOK241128lc04
and then at Glenelg Shire Council, working in the Home and Community Care department. Mrs Bourke took on the role of Seaview House manager as an unpaid volunteer, while also being part of the Seaview House Board of Management. For Mrs Bourke, the feeling of responsibility was heavy. “I think the biggest challenge was my feeling of responsibility for all the money,” she said. Though the work was unpaid and hard, Mrs Bourke said the best part was meeting people. “I had a dream,” she said. “When I was nursing, I used to hate the fact that people went home to lonely homes. So therefore, I felt that Seaview House offered companionship connected to the community, that they (the residents) could still belong to the community, but they had someone there at night. “That to me was probably my passion. “I would have taken everybody home to my house, but I couldn’t. So, this was my house, my thing.” Continued PAGE 2