After a decade and a half of service, Auckland's Herne Bay House is to officially close within the next four weeks, the Auckland City Mission has announced. The closure announcement follows a period of review, where the Mission consulted with various community stakeholder groups about the future of the service, a review prompted, essentially, by changing times. CEO Dianne Robertson told GayNZ.com last month that during the time Herne Bay House has been open the nature of HIV/AIDS treatments and the standing of HIV+ people in the community has vastly changed. Occupancy rates for the six-bed facility had been low for quite some time. The review prompted a range of emotions, from pragmatism and sadness, to resentment and anger, some of it directed at the gay community. Robertson has produced a 50-page document on the consultation process, which includes some of the comments made by various community groups at the hearings. In a press release announcing the closure, she described HIV+ women and refugees as the “newly marginalised”, rather than gay men, prompting the AIDS Foundation to voice their concern at the implication that HIV was no longer a problem for gay men – nearly 90% of new HIV infections in New Zealand last year were still among men who have sex with men. Robertson says she regrets the wording of her statement now. “We will still be continuing to work with that group that still has the highest need, but we want to meet the needs of the other groups that have presented during our consultancy process,” she says. These ‘other groups' had plenty to say during the consultation process, with comments that seemed to suggest gays have been unfairly hogging the facility. Comments logged in Robertson's report include feelings that Herne Bay House was an “exclusive community”, that women don't feel comfortable, that people with other life-threatening illnesses are disadvantaged because they don't have access to such a facility, and even “the gay community think they own the facility, but they don't support it financially”. “It was really agreed by everybody that it's lovely to have it [Herne Bay House], but that it's a luxury not a necessity,” says Robertson. “It's not being used by the entire community who have HIV and AIDS, it's being used by one particular sector. And I think that's probably where our focus has come, that we're not meeting everybody's needs.” A decision has not yet been made as to whether the large property in upmarket Herne Bay will be sold. Robertson says money is not an issue. “We've never looked at it as a capital asset. We see all our property as accommodation rather than assets,” she says. “Right throughout the last six or seven years we have had comments from people saying, why don't you move this service to a cheaper location? And we said we think it's in the right place, for the right client group, so we're not going to even think about what it's worth.” Auckland City Mission intends to continue providing for HIV+ community, and it is likely that an accomodation service will continue in reduced form at their Hobson St premises. “There is a need for some to have the respite and palliative care, but it's very few, it's irregular, and the most you'd need at any one time would be two beds,” Robertson says. “And it's impossible to staff something like that with full time 24-hour nursing care.” Even during its peak period, Robertson says Herne Bay House was never that well-used. "The total number of people using that service over 15 years has been 200 people," she says. "Yet some of the people who have used the service the most, were the ones saying we can see that this is a very expensive service for a very few people, and that the need isn't there in the same way that it used to be." All stakeholders felt a huge emotional attachment to Herne Bay House. "All the parties acknowledged that the service isn't needed in the same way as it was at the height of the AIDS epidemic," she says. "And all of the groups and individuals encouraged the mission to look at ongoing support through community care." Certain community care issues weren't being addressed by Herne Bay House – emotional, social, mental health and housing issues, for example. These will now be looked at as part of a community care package. "We're going to start advertising this week for a registered nurse, so we can provide medical assistance. We will employ social workers, and maybe a psychologist. We're going to actually set up a group to consult with about what are the best services to provide as well." Chris Banks - 8th September 2005