General News
12 September, 2022
$8 million Havilah project nears completion following delays
Havilah’s $8 million Palmerston Street expansion is rapidly nearing completion with initial works to begin soon on the aged care service provider’s next project, as the organisation works to meet the needs of the community. Construction of the...
Havilah’s $8 million Palmerston Street expansion is rapidly nearing completion with initial works to begin soon on the aged care service provider’s next project, as the organisation works to meet the needs of the community.
Construction of the new Palmerston Street facility, known as The Terrace, is set to be complete next month and will add a further 24 aged care beds to Havilah’s existing 142 aged care places across both the Palmerston Street and Harkness Street campuses.
The two storey facility will feature apartments with single or double bedrooms for couples as well as personal balconies or gardens depending on whether the room is on the first or second storey.
The project has been a long time in the making, with Havilah receiving the provisional allocation for the 24 new beds back in 2017 and is being led by former CEO Barb Duffin.
Havilah CEO Craig Young said while the build had been delayed due to weather, supply chain issues and the impacts of COVID-19, the facility is on track to open next month.
“We are very, very close to having works finalised at The Terrace,” he said.
“There have been some delays in regards to supply chain issues and contractors impacted by COVID but we’re on track to open the facility early to mid-October.
“We’ve got a good selection of rooms across both the ground floor and first floor that will be available and we’re hoping that in the next few weeks, we’ll have a couple of rooms furnished so people can come and see first-hand what the new facilities will look like.”
Mr Young said The Terrace expansion is in response to the ageing local population and projected future needs in aged care.
He also said the expansion of new aged care spaces means residents won’t have to consider uprooting and moving away from their community to access care, which is delivered affordably and accessibly locally.
“The Terrace project is in response to the fact that Maryborough, not unlike the rest of Australia, has an ageing population,” he said.
“This project is also our way of continuing to provide our service to Maryborough and the broader community to ensure that as a community-owned asset, family members don’t need to be thinking of accessing facilities out of town for their loved ones.
“There are continuing demands on the aged care sector and making sure Havilah is able to meet the needs of the community is a priority for us.”
As The Terrace expansion nears completion, Mr Young said preliminary works on a similar $8 million expansion at the Harkness Street site, which will add a further 24 aged care beds, have also begun.
“We’ve just started meeting with contractors for that expansion which fronts onto Burns Street and the community will start to see activity at that site in the coming months,” he said.
“That will be another 12 month project and will bring an additional 24 beds online in around October next year, if all goes well.”