Work on a new 105 residential place aged care facility on Highfields Circuit could commence construction in May, 2019.
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Palms Aged Living Management Services Pty Ltd secured the bed allocation in the latest round of federal funding for aged care places.
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council approved a development application for the facility in October 2017.
The new facility will be called Highfields Manor Port Macquarie.
The DA values the facility at $17.8m.
The Highfields Circuit complex will complement existing facilities Palms Aged Living currently operates at Kirrawee.
Services at the southern Sydney facility includes high and low care services, access to allied health and palliative care needs.
The Port Macquarie facility will feature,
- all single bed rooms with ensuite including capability to convert some to twin rooms,
- a physiotherapy/physical therapy area to facilitate wellness and reablement programs,
- high quality communal spaces, including theatres, lounges and café, and
- proven and innovative model of integrating dementia sufferers into the general consumer cohort.
Construction will take 19 months giving an indicative occupancy date of December 2020.
In September 2017, council deferred a decision on the DA pending a site inspection.
Deputy mayor Lisa Intemann said the parking was a real issue for her while Cr Justin Levido raised concerns about the scale of the development, the traffic issues and car parking.
Federal MP Luke Hartsuyker said the Cowper electorate received the largest allocation of aged care places in the latest round of funding.
The electorate received 26 per cent of the placements across NSW, he said.
"Cowper received 432 places - with 202 in Port Macquarie and 230 in Coffs Harbour. It is a big slab of the NSW allocations.
"This reflects the older demographic that we have in Cowper.
"Cowper already boasts some great aged care facilities in both cities and this new allocation will provide new construction of high quality aged care facilities," he said.
"While this means even greater aged care, it also means jobs for local people in the construction phase."
Mr Hartsuyker said a rough rule of thumb attributes one job for each bed in aged care.
Those jobs could be in nursing staff, maintenance, cleaning and cooking, he said.
Aged care is an $18 billion budget item, he added.
There were 13,500 places Australia-wide.
Along with the 105 new places at Highfield Manor, there are also 91 places at Arcare and a further six at Regis.
Palms Aged Living Management Services Pty Ltd was contacted for comment.
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