3 September 2020
A high-flying business mogul who owns the aged care facility at the centre of one of Australia's worst coronavirus outbreaks has resigned from his top role, reports Daily Mail Australia.
Peter Arvanitis stepped down as director of Heritage Care last week after intense focus on his lavish lifestyle, including luxury cars and multimillion-dollar mansions.
Heritage Care operates 10 homes in NSW and Victoria, including the Epping Gardens aged-care facility in north-west Melbourne, which became subject to investigation after being the source of about 212 infections and multiple deaths.
Last week the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission announced it had taken action against Epping Gardens for breaching care and management standards.
Mr Arvanitis came under fire for his extravagant lifestyle after families of frail elderly residents complained about poor staffing and poor care at the facility before and during the crisis, DMA reports.
Heritage Care chief executive Greg Reeve told News Corp Australia that Mr Arvanitis resigned as he was “not wanting to be a distraction to the good work of staff”.
“Peter has decided to resign as a Director of Heritage Care effective immediately, but will maintain his partial ownership in the business,’’ Mr Reeve said.
He said Mr Arvanitis acquired his wealth before his time at Heritage Care.
'It's not possible for any aged care operator to generate that degree of wealth from resident fees, and it's inaccurate to imply otherwise,' Mr Reeve said.
He said past business offerings, including the public offering of Estia Health which generated over $1 billion in 2014, had nothing to do with Heritage Care.