Facility to open doors

Finishing touches placed as $40m aged care home prepares to open

THIRTY brightly coloured quilts are one of the finishing touches being placed on Ozcare’s $40 million aged-care home in Glenvale.

The 150-bed facility in Greenwattle St is due to open to the public on April 8, with the quilts a gift to dementia sufferers moving into the home.

Toowoomba Quilter Club secretary Fay Suley said she was inspired to help after witnessing her husband’s struggle with the disease.

“My husband passed away in 2011 and his last 16 weeks were spent in care. I could see how much having a quilt helped him find his room easily,” Ms Suley said.

Ms Suley and 20 other women from the club worked for months to prepare the quilts.

Ozcare’s head of aged care Lanna Ramsay said the quilts would provide enormous comfort for new residents.

“Making the transition into aged care can be a daunting experience for people living with memory loss and we aim to make that move as seamless as possible,” Ms Ramsay said.

“It’s often items like quilts that can conjure up some nostalgia for our residents and that can give them a sense of home straight away.”

Ms Ramsay said interest had increased in the lead-up to the facility’s opening day.

“We’ve had a lot of people put in expressions of interest to come in,” she said.

“We have just received our first intake of staff, who are orientating themselves with the premises.

“We are working through applications, and we already have six people moving into the facility on the first day.”

Pensioner Bluey Shelton said he was “honoured” to be one of the first selected to live in the facility.

“I am going to be there right when the doors open, at 7am,” he said.

“It’s magnificent. You at first think ‘oh, I must go into a nursing home’ – but this is not like a nursing home.

“It’s like a five-star motel, you move in here and you know you’re going to be looked after in care and luxury.”

He said he was going to celebrate his first day in the facility with a cold VB.

The facility comes with extensive grounds and gardens, a public coffee shop and intimate lounges and dining areas for family and residents.

Thought has been put into the building’s design, with softly curved corridors and warm colour palettes adding a homely to the facility.

Photo: Bev Lacey WELCOMING: Placing quilts for the opening of the Ozcare Toowoomba aged-care facility in Greenwattle St are (from left) Toowoomba Quilter Club members Fay Suley and Lee Hicks with facility manager Elizabeth Klein. INSET: Bluey Shelton is excited to move into the facility come April 8.