Rural women to hang on to $18m bonus

 The 97-year-old home healthcare company, which was wholly owned by Rural Women, was sold to Green Cross Health this month. Access HomeHealth evolved from the bush nurse and housekeeping schemes set up in the mid-1920s by the women’s division of the Farmers Union.

McGowan says it is too early to say what will be done with the money or the interest. But many members have property and assets worth $10 million or more and know “you don’t sell your assets, you make them work for you”.

A place on the Green Cross board has been offered to Rural Women and that is under consideration.

When 100% owned by Rural Women, Access HomeHealth had its own board and was run as a standalone business.

“It had grown to be the largest home-based care business in New Zealand and with their vision of where they wanted to go, we didn’t really have the finance to help them get any bigger. We had taken them as far as we could,” says McGowan. 

“It was time to look at what we could better do for them, and one was to sell so they can continue with their growth strategy.”

Access is now one of the largest providers of homecare services in the country, contracted to DHBs, the Ministry of Health and ACC.

Among a number of conditions of sale, Green Cross agreed to continue to work in rural areas. Homecare companies can shy away from rural areas because of extra costs and rural work is often done under charity, says McGowan. It has also agreed to fund Rural Women’s present scholarships and awards.

Rural Women used to receive a dividend each year from Access, which was distributed annually to the seven regions and used to help people in difficult circumstance, or other charitable purposes.

Some interest from the Access sale will no doubt be used to continue charitable work, says McGowan.