In the first sign that the Not For Profit’s $20 million investment in LDK, the Brisbane-based private aged care operator, is going to reap practical dividends, Anglicare Sydney is going to mimic its full care offering from inside its retirement village, 20km south of Sydney’s CBD.
Cassandra Mathews (pictured), who accepted the role of Chief Executive of Seniors Living in April, told The SOURCE that the aim of the pilot – nicknamed the Lighthouse Project because of the lighthouse’s position as a place of safety and security – was to help the residents age in place.
“We will have teams inside Woolooware Shores to provide care whenever it is needed. We have had meetings with residents and they back the idea,” she said.
“We chose Woolooware Shores due to its scale. The seventh and final stage is nearing completion and there are over 300 residents already there.”
From March, utilising home care packages where possible, the teams will be able to deliver care in 15-minute increments rather than outside home care services, which must adhere to a two-hour minimum shift requirement. There is also minimal travel time, and 24/7 care can be delivered.
The village fees also cover the cost of some services such as lawn mowing and maintenance that home care recipients would typically spend their Package on.
Like LDK Seniors Living on introduction, Anglicare will also bear most of the initial cost for the program – but see it as the future of their retirement living value proposition.
“There will not be additional charges for residents already at Woolooware Shores, but it will be factored into the contracts of new residents,” said Cassandra, the former Chief Financial Officer at Northern Beaches Hospital.
“If the pilot need-based scheme works, we will run it across all our 25 retirement villages.”
Anglicare is the largest village operator in Sydney.
If successful at scale, the delivery of aged care under the Retirement Village Act, this could be the most important initiative for the village sector in the past 20 years.
You can read more about Anglicare’s Lighthouse project – and its plans for its residential care portfolio – in an exclusive interview with CEO Simon Miller in the final 2023 issue of SATURDAY (out 8 December). Ensure you don’t miss this important story – subscribe here now.
