Whitby aged care facility signed off
An aged care facility at Whitby Lakes Retirement Village has been signed off.
Resource consent for the 1220-square metre, 60-bed facility was granted this year.
Work is due to start next year and is expected to be completed in 2018.
The $16 million building will be located at the northern end of the retirement village, next to Samuel Marsden Whitby. Though the facility would not be a hospital where operations were performed, director Sandy Foster said it would still provide a high level of care.
‘‘It is a big development, but so was the village itself,’’ Foster said.
‘‘It is very much a milestone for the village. We have been planning the care facility for some years, so to have secured the rights to build it is significant and very welcome.’’
He said that in the retirement village market it was increasingly important to be able to offer healthcare as part of the overall package.
A detailed design process for building consent will begin over the next few months.
The new facility would also open up more opportunities for employment, with about 15 nursing staff needed on a day-to-day basis, Foster said.
‘‘We want to create a place that helps people who live there and is also an asset to the community.’’
He said residents had been very positive about the proposal because it would benefit them. Furthermore, the wider community also understood it was something that was necessary.
Foster said Capital & Coast District Health Board had given provisional approval for funding, subject to accreditation once complete.