Outrup residents seek to buy care home facing closure

Residents in Outrup are trying to buy the local Møllegården care home and turn it into an independently run care home after Varde Municipality decided to close it, DR reports.

The municipality decided during budget negotiations to close three care homes. The residents’ initiative group says it is well advanced in planning a takeover, but spokesperson Else Andersen says the municipality has not yet told them whether they can buy the building.

Andersen says Møllegården is a gathering place for the town and that residents do not want to lose it. An independently run care home is not operated by the municipality, but is subject to the same care and inspection requirements as a municipal home. It receives municipal support, and residents are allocated places in the same way.

Lone Krogh Jensen, whose 87-year-old uncle has lived at Møllegården for 17 years, said she was shocked by the closure decision. She said it had meant a great deal to her family that he could live in a care home near his social circle.

Varde Municipality says the closures are due to staff shortages and a desire to strengthen professional standards at its remaining care homes. Møllegården has 21 places and 18 residents, who will be allowed to stay.

Local residents in Agerbæk, where another care home is due to close, also want to buy it and establish an independently run home.