Calvary Health Care’s three-year plan to elevate retirement living as part of its broader connected care model – spanning hospitals, residential aged care, retirement communities and home care – has delivered a 12.4% lift in occupancy and 11.6% growth in average sales prices.

Mark Eagleston, Strategic Operations & Performance – Retirement Living, said Calvary now plans to expand into regions where the Catholic Not For Profit already delivers health services and where demand for retirement living is rising.

“At Calvary, we are empowering our retirement village residents to live independently and thrive within vibrant, connected communities,” he said.

“To meet the demands of older Australians wanting to age in place, Calvary is enhancing its unique connected care offering of collocating many retirement living villages with residential aged care, as well as linking with the aged care services Calvary can provide in the home.”

In the last financial year, Calvary sold 114 Independent Living Units (ILUs), boosting occupancy levels from 492 to 553 units across its portfolio. The provider also ramped up its investment in asset renewal, completing 47 refurbishments – a sharp increase from just 10 the previous year.

In January, Calvary converted its Sydney Williams retirement village in Doncaster East, 20km east of Melbourne's CBD, into its first seniors’ rental community. Following its success, Calvary is actively reviewing opportunities to expand access to this type of model.

“To remain relevant and viable in this changing landscape of health and ageing, combined with policy changes and funding models, we have to innovate our service delivery and respond to the needs of those we provide care,” Mark said.