PLANNING has begun for a new aged care facility in Cheltenham.
The residential facility at Monash Health’s Kingston Centre will have the capacity for 150 beds. It is expected to cater for residents with complex needs such as dementia.
The project is budgeted to cost $134.6 million.
Disability, ageing, and carers minister Luke Donnellan said “our public sector residential aged care services play a vital role in supporting vulnerable older Victorians who need specialist care for complex physical or mental health needs.”
The centre will be operated and staffed by public health service Monash Health.
During the devastating second wave of COVID-19 in Victoria, cases in privately-run aged care homes far outnumbered those in state-run facilities. The Saturday Paper reported that just three residents in state-run aged care homes contracted COVID-19 during the second wave, compared to nearly 2000 in private and non-profit facilities.
The Cheltenham residential facility is scheduled for completion by early 2025.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 16 December 2020
