The Minister for Health, Mary-Anne Thomas MP, visited Kingston Centre yesterday to mark the start of construction on the site’s new 150-bed residential aged care facility.
Interim Chief Executive Martin Keogh welcomed the Minister, as well as the Parliamentary Secretary for Health Infrastructure, Tim Richardson MP, and the local member for Clarinda, Meng Heang Tak MP.
“Kingston Centre has a long and proud history of excellence in aged care,” Martin said, “so we are extremely excited to deliver a contemporary aged care facility that will build on this legacy and provide the best possible environment for residents to receive care.”
The new facility will feature 150 single bedrooms with private ensuites, open area views and natural light. The bedrooms will be grouped into small households with kitchen and dining areas. The dementia-friendly design will also include landscaped sensory gardens and terraces that will be easily accessed from each household. Shared common areas will provide socialising opportunities for residents, and visitor areas will be open, bright, and adjacent to the Kingston Centre gardens.
“The new purpose-built facility will be our flagship residential aged care facility,” Martin said. “It will focus on ensuring residents maintain connections with family and their community as much as possible, maintain as much independence as possible, while also having ready access to the clinical support care they require in a home-like environment.”
The Minister spoke about the facility’s design being ideal for supporting residents with complex needs, and how the new facility will allow easy access to a broad range of integrated services already offered at the Kinston Centre.
The project is being delivered in partnership with the Victorian Health Building Authority and Icon Construction. With demolition and site preparation works now complete, the next phases of the project can commence ahead of an expected project completion in 2025.
Approved by Martin Keogh, Interim Chief Executive