The town of Chinchilla, about 300km west of Brisbane, population 7,000, is the location of the Not For Profit's new 81-bed aged care facility, Illoura.
The $36 million home replaces a 66-bed facility, and was made possible through $17.5 million in Federal Government Aged Care Approval Rounds infrastructure funding, with Southern Cross Care Queensland (SCCQ) contributing the remaining $18.5 million.
It's the first time an aged care home has been built in the area for about 16 years, Jason Eldering, SCCQ CEO, told The Weekly SOURCE.
"What we're most proud of is it's a great asset for the community," Jason said.
"We did a lot of work advocating for it. We were lucky in one of the rounds when we got a capital grant for this rebuild," he said.
"We've had a philosophy of trying to build more than just aged care."
He expects the home, which is officially opening on 18 February, to be filled by the end of March.
The development incorporates the refurbishment of a building on site which will be used by Southern Queensland Rural Health for education and training of nurses and allied health staff from the region.
There is also a housing complex on site consisting of eight units to accommodate staff. With housing shortages across Queensland, where SCCQ has 13 aged care homes, Jason said SCCQ has spent "towards" $5 million purchasing accommodation for staff in recent years.
Illoura will have nearly 90 staff, and having brought in 30 workers under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, some will be employed at Chinchilla.
"It makes such a big different to our communities," Jason said. "They're beautifully aligned [with SCCQ's values]. They're caring and empathetic. They're beautiful people."
The final phase of the project is a health and wellness hub for allied and primary health, plus gym with HUR equipment and café. When complete, it will be accessible to the broader community.
The project came in on time and on budget, said Jason, praising his partners on the job and an experienced team within SCCQ. The builders were Integral Construction, architects were Melbourne-based Smith+Tracey Architects, and Project Managers were DAM26.
