More aged care accommodation for SA

Older people requiring aged care in the southern suburbs of Adelaide will have more options following the official opening yesterday of two new residential care homes.

The Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, said the two new homes would provide 212 aged accommodation places catering to care needs, including a mixture of high-care, low-care, respite and dementia services.

The two new homes are the Holly Residential Care Centre in Hackham, and Eldercare Seaford.

“These two new homes are about better meeting that need in Adelaide’s southern suburbs,” Mrs Elliot said.

Eldercare Seaford was allocated 80 aged care places through the Aged Care Approvals Round process, while Holly Residential Care Centre’s 132 places were transferred from ECH Incorporated’s decommissioned Bellevue Heights home.

Mrs Elliot said both new homes provided for residents to stay within the same accommodation as their health changed.

“Most older residents prefer to continue living close to their families, friends and local community once they require aged care accommodation,” Mrs Elliot said.

“Both these new care homes give residents the ability to maintain their lifestyles, while also giving them access to the care they need.”

Australia-wide, the 2007 Aged Care Approvals Round provided 6,525 new residential aged care places worth $233.3 million a year in recurrent funding, including 375 more aged care places in South Australia worth $13.96 million a year in federal support.

This takes the total number of allocated residential aged care places available in South Australia to more than 17,000.

“We are working to change the way the annual allocation of aged care places is conducted, to make it more efficient and to better target areas of need,” Mrs Elliot said.

“This includes the creation of up to 2,000 more transition care beds for older Australians who are waiting in hospital for appropriate aged care accommodation.

“In addition, $300 million of loans will be provided at zero real interest rates to aged care providers to make up to 2,500 permanent residential aged care beds available to older Australians sooner.”