Summerset adds sites to portfolio
Listed retirement village operator Summerset Group Holdings has posted a bumper annual profit and bought two more properties in Christchurch and Wellington for development.
The new villages, which will also contain dementia-care apartments, will take the number of Summerset developments to 23.
A highlight during 2017 was receiving the New Zealand Aged Care Association’s award for a memory-care centre in Levin.
‘‘A lot of our residents have some level of it [dementia], or their partners do, or they might be concerned about it,’’ Summerset chief executive Julian Cook said.
‘‘It can make a village difficult to run, which is why we decided we needed to provide quality facilities that allow people, including couples and their families, to remain within the village in a wider care environment, rather than have to go to an institution.
‘‘This hasn’t been done anywhere else in New Zealand or Australia as far as I’m aware. We’ve seen it in the Netherlands.
‘‘We offer people their own apartment with double bedroom and kitchenette in addition to the normal communal facilities.
‘‘People can go through periods of distress and disorientation, so having their own space allows them to retreat to familiar surroundings with their own furniture and photos and things.’’
Cook said memory care centres also required good staff ratios and understanding staff members.
The care centres would be a feature of new villages being developed at Casebrook in Christchurch and Rototuna in Hamilton for 2019, as well as the villages at planning stages in Avonhead (Christchurch) and Keneperu (Wellington).
"This hasn't been done anywhere else in New Zealand or Australia as far as I'm aware." Julian Cook, on Summerset's facilities for residents with dementia
From next month, three regionally based food providers – White Tie Health Services, Kerr & Ladbrook and Cater Plus – will provide food for Summerset villages, plus an in-house team at the Levin and Paraparaumu villages.
Cook said the focus was on finding local food providers, particularly where the owners have a personal connection and close contact with residents.
This also ensured food would have local variation, as opposed to serving the same meal in all villages at the same time.
Most of the 1200 staff were on a new higher pay arrangement.
Other staff benefits included health insurance covering visits to GPs, dentists, physiotherapists and optometrists, funeral cover of
$10,000, long-service leave after five years and buying discounts.
Summerset also offered employees a share scheme, with 83 per cent signing up, providing them with $780 worth of shares after three years if they remain at the company.
On the financial front, Summerset made an underlying profit of
$81 million on revenue of $110m in the year ended December 31.
However, property revaluations of $217m lifted the final profit to
$223m after tax. Shareholders will receive a total dividend of 11 cents a share.