(Photo – Greta Moran on her graduation day in 1955 with husband Doug Moran)
When Doug and Greta Moran AO opened their first aged care home 70 years ago, television had just arrived on our shores and Melbourne was preparing to hold the first Olympics in Australia. Nursing was characterised by hospital-based training and mandatory live-in nurses’ homes with strict curfews. Nurses worked long hours, they made beds with perfect hospital corners, wrote paper charts and lifted patients with teamwork and strong backs.
A registered nurse herself, Greta Moran, held great insight into what it took to provide good care. Combined with Doug Moran’s expertise in business they began to establish Residential Aged Care Homes that provided higher standards of care and accommodation.
Today, Moran Health Care Group continues its tradition of innovation and quality care. Moran was the first aged care provider to introduce physiotherapists in their Homes. Greta Moran initially engaged the help of physiotherapists to facilitate breathing exercises with residents to reduce the incidence of pneumonia, a cause of many deaths in elderly people at the time. Soon after, the government required all aged care providers to do this.
Moran was the first aged care provider to include a dietitian in menu planning, based on Greta Moran’s belief that improved nutrition enhances residents’ health and wellbeing.
In the 1980’s Greta Moran became a member of a committee responsible for transitioning nurse education into the university sector. She collaborated with government officials and academic leaders to reform nursing education, establishing it as a degree-level qualification that acknowledges the intricate challenges nurses encounter. This transformation elevated nursing’s status as a profession and highlighted the critical role nurses play.
Over the years, the Moran family‘s core values have never wavered, though gone are the starched nurses’ uniforms and paper charts. A dynamic team led by Doug and Greta Moran’s son, Managing Director, Dr Peter Moran, are responsible for driving transformative change and optimal care. Team members are offered ongoing training, career development opportunities and mentoring.
“The personal satisfaction that comes from helping and spending time with some of the most vulnerable in our community cannot be matched. Our carers form close relationships with residents and their families and vice versa. It is very rewarding to bring them joy and comfort. We look forward to 70 year celebrations in Moran Homes throughout 2026 with opportunities for residents to reminisce about their own lives in the 1950’s” said Dr Peter Moran.
Moran Health Care Group remains a family-owned business, employing over 800 staff in aged care homes located in Engadine, Sylvania, Kellyville and Stockton NSW and Sydney head office.
