The 10 residents were moved out and the doors shut in March 2022 due to a shortage of nurses, but Health NZ had promised to reopen the facility.
Staff in Reefton remained on full pay.
The facility was redecorated and was still being maintained and even heated, ready for the promised reopening.
However, sceptical locals noticed that the vacancies at Ziman House had not been recently advertised.
Remaining staff were called to a meeting at 10am today, followed an hour or so later by a meeting with Reefton community health representatives.
The Greymouth Star understands management say they are open to suggestions on what happens to the now redundant building, which could perhaps be rented out for short-term accommodation to meet the needs of the mining industry.
Staff redundancies, and redeployment, are understood to be on the cards.
Health NZ director ageing well Andy Inder, who fronted the Reefton meeting, said the 12-bed hospital-level aged residential care would not reopen.
"We acknowledge this will be upsetting for Ziman House staff and Reefton residents, particularly because of previous reassurances that the facility will reopen when nursing staff are recruited.
"Health NZ has carefully considered the options before making this difficult decision, including Reefton community's needs alongside our rural and ageing well strategies and direction.
"Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that all levels of aged residential care at Ziman House are neither feasible nor sustainable from a workforce or a financial perspective for Health NZ. Ziman House is not fit-for-purpose ... and the layout does not easily support the nursing model of care usually delivered in an (aged resident care) facility. It will require significant investment to improve Ziman House to appropriate standards, which we don't believe is the best use of funding."
It had proved difficult to employ a sustainable nursing workforce in Reefton.
Ziman House beds cost four times the average cost of rest home level care and nearly three times the average cost of hospital level care, which was also unsustainable for Health NZ.
It wanted to "explore and bolster" alternative community models of care for Reefton.
"We agreed today on how we would consult with the community in the coming weeks on options for new services to support older people in Reefton, including options like transport to the Westport rest home, transport for shopping, a community day activity programme (support for carers) as well as in-home respite support," Mr Inder said.
"Today's meeting was difficult, however it does create certainty and we would like to thank the Reefton Health Action Group for their commitment to the community and interest in working through these options positively with us.
"Ultimately, we want the community to be part of the solution and we will be setting up a range of public meetings to ensure that we can hear from the community as to their needs. This will enable us to build the right care framework for the town's ageing population."
