In one of his last acts as CEO of HammondCare, Mike Baird announced two multi-storey aged care homes will be built at Hammondville, the provider's 12-hectare site in south west Sydney, home to the largest number of dementia beds in Australia.
The two new aged care homes, expected to cost more than $63 million, will turn the Hammondville precinct into a contemporary, integrated village. There will be 90 beds in total.
The proposed western building will provide general aged care services and be called Bond, after former Director of Nursing and HammondCare Board member Rosemary Bond, who attended the announcement. The new eastern building will be developed for residents living with dementia, and will be called Jones, after former Director of Care Services Olive Jones.
Each care home will have three apartments, each with 15 ensuite rooms, with a domestic kitchen and laundry based on HammondCare’s cottage model design. The apartments are intended to be familiar, comforting and homelike with easy access to the outdoors and balconies. The project will also include a new community hub featuring a general store designed for people with dementia, a hairdresser and barber, “The Watering Hole”, a men’s shed, community garden, kids’ playground, and administrative spaces.
Mike said the project continues the legacy of Rev Bob Hammond, who began development at Hammondville in 1932, during the Depression, with a housing project for destitute families.
“I am honoured to announce this outstanding, transformational aged care project for our Hammondville site as one of my final responsibilities as CEO,” Mike said.
“Bob Hammond launched an independent charity that was at the cutting edge of responding to community need in the 1930s. He did not wait for governments to act.”
The site's focus changed to aged care in the post-war years in response to growing need.
Hammondville is presently home to nearly 300 aged care residents, most living with dementia. Another 129 older people live in independent living units on the site, where about 500 staff are employed.
Construction of the two new aged care homes is expected to begin in 2025, subject to planning approvals.
Mike Baird's address to LEADERS SUMMIT 2024