The South Australian Not For Profit provider has unveiled an ambitious five-year masterplan of its aged care site in Port Broughton, 175km northwest of Adelaide.
"Our masterplan is massive," Barunga Village Inc CEO Elizabeth Carroll told The Weekly SOURCE.
Stage 1 consists of adding a two-storey extension with 48 new rooms adjacent to the existing aged care home. The ground floor will consist of two 12-bed Memory Support Units specifically designed to accommodate the Butterfly model of dementia care. The top floor will accommodate general high care, and can also be run as two 'Butterfly' units.
On completion of Stage 1, residents from the original home will be able to move into the new facility.
Estimated at a cost of $24 million, the five-year project will increase the home's capacity from 87 to 108 residents – if the provider can secure the funding.
"We are dependent on grant funding under the Aged Care Capital Development Grant for funding for this project to go ahead," Elizabeth said.
Once the extension is complete, the master plan vision is to decommission and rebuild the older parts of the home, bringing the whole home up to the same contemporary standard.
Retirement village expansion, staff accommodation also planned
The master plan also includes the construction of staff accommodation in Port Broughton, opposite the aged care home, and a 50-villa extension of Barunga by the Sea, Barunga Village Inc's retirement village, with a new community centre.
"The master plan has been developed by the board and executive in consultation with Adelaide-based architects SMFA in collaboration with Auckland architects Re-Imagine.
"The collaboration was triggered by my feedback after visiting sites in NZ on a NZ Sage tour in 2023," Elizabeth said.
Barunga Village Inc acquired the 42-bed faith-based stand-alone aged care home The Willochra Home, 200km north of Adelaide, in June.
