General News
21 January, 2025
Works at Havilah’s newest $14.2 million expansion begin, set to complete in 2026
Construction has started on Havilah Hostel’s $14.2 million expansion, set to offer more personalised care for residents.
The project will provide 24 new beds with a wide range of modern facilities to support residents at any level of care, under the Ageing In Place approach.
“It’s called Ageing in Place now, some residents might come in quite independent, and then after some time they may have to move into another area, but this means residents will not need to be moved at any point,” Havilah director of care Stacey Perry said.
“For example, every single room will have over head lifting equipment, so if someone comes in able to mobilise but as they get older, they can’t anymore, that is available for them and we can still look after them from start to finish, in the same room.”
Havilah CEO Tracey Saunders said the new building will also have modern call systems and technology Havilah hasn’t previously offered.
“It’s going to be more up-to-date with technology and its nurse call bell system, so it’s going to be more state of the art,” she said.
“It will have voice capabilities, something we don’t already have, that system has an escalation process, so if a resident calls for assistance, but their primary nurse is with another resident, it will alert other staff, so the response time for our residents will be significantly reduced.”
Ms Perry said the community will significantly benefit from having more aged care beds available.
“It’s an ageing population at the moment, so more and more people want to come into care,” she said.
Ms Saunders agreed. She said that addressing the need for more aged care services will impact the wider community and not just those in Maryborough.
“It will also bring people into our community that may not live in Maryborough, but may need residential care for their mum or dad or whoever in their family,” she said.
Havilah will also be continuing the native flora theme with the name of its wards. The new building will be called Boronia House, a name voted on by the residents.
“We had four ideas put forward by the board, and we let the residents vote on those names, Boronia by far got the most votes,” Ms Saunders said.
Ms Perry said this was an important principle of the aged care provider.
“We also like to have our residents have a say in what we do here,” she said.
She also said that with new facilities available, Havilah will continue its commitment to keeping residents engaged with the community.
“You don’t need to wait to come into care, you can come and get that little bit of extra help, and still enjoy being able to go out into the community, we will help facilitate all of that,” Ms Perry said.
The Boronia House construction will continue throughout the year and is expected to be finished in early 2026.