When Colin Brodie's son was in his early 20s, he suffered a massive brain injury that left him severely disabled with high-care needs.
Ben, now 39, has lived at Wallsend Aged Care Centre for the past 14 years with round-the-clock care. Mr Brodie said the staff were "family" and Ben was at "home".
But Mr Brodie and the Health Services Union (HSU) fear the NSW government may be closing the centre under stealth. Out of 98 beds, 68 are sitting empty.
Some $10.35 million was committed to the service in Hunter health budgets last financial year but staff say they have heard "very little" about the facility's future.
State member for Wallsend Sonia Hornery raised concerns in October when the facility dipped below 60 per cent capacity. At that time, the service had not taken a new patient for more than two years.
This figure has now risen by nine per cent but two of the service's three wards have been closed and all residents are now cared for on one floor.
At a rally on Thursday, HSU member Toni Allenn said she first became concerned about the service's capacity in 2021 when beds were not filled after COVID-19.
She believed many elderly and disabled people were staying long-term in Hunter hospitals.
"People should not be in hospital because they cannot get an aged care bed when we have 68 empty beds," Ms Allenn said.
"Everything functions on those wards. It is such a waste of taxpayer money for those empty beds, so we are going to keep up the fight," she said.
Mr Brodie said he had been "hopeful" for a change under the Labor government this year.
For Mr Brodie and his wife, the future of Ben's care looms alarmingly close. He said it would be "challenging" to get Ben a room in another aged care centre as most disabled young people were now encouraged to live in group homes.
He said while the homes provide excellent care, they would not be able to cater properly for his son due to staffing ratios and employee turnover.
Ben requires, for example, eye drops every hour and to be kept at a temperature about 30 degrees celcius.
"He wouldn't complain about it," Mr Brodie said. "But I'm just not sure many others places could care for him [like that].
"Many of the staff have been here longer than we have," Mr Brodie said. "It really is home for Ben.
"It is fundamentally important you have meticulous attention to what his needs are," he said. "The staff here know him. They know us."
Ms Hornery said she would continue to campaign for Wallsend Aged Care Centre to remain open and grow to full capacity.
"The degradation and running down of the facility is totally unacceptable," Ms Hornery said.
Greater Metropolitan Health Services executive director Karen Kelly told the Newcastle Herald "no decisions" about the future of Wallsend Aged Care Centre
"There are a range of reasons for the current occupancy rate including the hesitation of families and carers admitting their loved ones into aged care during the pandemic," Ms Kelly said.
She said some residents had moved to a "community care model through the NDIS".
Ms Kelly told the Herald the facility had "not received any new applications since 2020."
"Like many health and aged care facilities across Australia, we are impacted by staff shortages," she said.
"We continue to actively recruit, unfortunately our recent efforts have been unsuccessful. We utilise agency nurses to ensure we continue to provide quality care to our residents."
