The dementia care and disability support provider has opened Kora House, a four-storey, 18-studio supported living facility across the road from Westmead Hospital, 26km west of Sydney's CBD.
Dr Rodney Jilek, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Community Home Australia (CHA), told The Weekly SOURCE. "We expect to fill quickly."
"We had just over 150 applications and I interviewed every one personally."
The first resident, who is relocating from Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, will move in on Friday (11 July), and four more are in the process of preparing their final paperwork. Westmead Hospital has also shown a keen interest in accessing the services, Rodney said.
Kora House will provide accommodation and support to people with a range of disabilities and health needs ranging in age from 20 years and beyond, funded by the NDIS, and, like their Canberra homes, will support people wishing to avoid residential aged care, paying on a fee-for-service basis or a combination of self funded and Home Care Package funding.
"While we specialise in younger onset dementia support, we will not turn anyone away and have the clinical capability to support any level of care need," Rodney said.
The 18 studio apartments occupy two floors of Kora House, with a nurse's office on both floors. A Registered Nurse will be on duty 7am to 11pm, 7 days a week with 24 hour oncall cover. Club Kinta day centre, on the ground floor, will have one emergency respite bed available.
Staff already on site
Recruitment is ongoing, with staff already preparing rooms and learning systems.
"We have a commencing team of 10 which includes four Registered Nurses," Rodney said, who founded CHA in 2020 with Nicole Smith, a Registered Nurse and gerontologist, who is now CHA's Chief Operations Officer.
"As guests move in, we will continue to expand the team at a base ratio of 1:3, the standard across our entire organisation."
CHA has four homes embedded in local communities: three in Canberra, and one in NSW. In 2024, CHA also opened Aashaya Jasri Resort in Bali, which provides disability accommodation and support for people living with dementia and their supporters.
