Chesalon Malabar opened
The official opening of ANGLICARE Sydney’s new 62 bed Chesalon facility at Malabar today demonstrates the way forward in providing quality aged care to an ageing population.
According to the Productivity Commission there will be 6.8 million Australians, or about one quarter of the population aged over 65 by the year 2051, mandating immediate reform of aged care and new models of care.
“Australia is ageing – it’s a fact. Current aged care funding and service models are suited to three decades ago and make the current aged care system completely unsustainable”, said Peter Kell, CEO ANGLICARE Sydney.
The Chesalon service at Malabar was first opened in 1973 – at that time it was a state of the art facility. The new facility will provide high care and extra services for residents and also a dementia day care centre.
“ANGLICARE’s Cheaslon program has provided community-based aged care for over 60 years. The opening of our new centre at Malabar manifests our commitment to stay in the aged care sector to ensure older Australians enjoy real quality of life”, said Mr Kell.
The Director of Aged Services at ANGLICARE Sydney, Rob Evers said he was thrilled that the new Malabar facility would provide a model of best-practise care in a community setting, continuing the Chesalon tradition.
“At ANGLICARE we are committed to serving the vulnerable and needy, hence our investment of over two million dollars in the new 62 bed Malabar facility – we hope it will be a great asset to the community for generations to come”, said Mr Evers.
As demand on beds in residential aged care facilities continues to grow, ANGLICARE Sydney is calling on all Governments to fundamentally reform how aged care services are funded.
“Community-based services are essential to helping people maintain relative independence for longer. But they must be matched by outstanding residential services to give people quality care as they come to the end of their lives.
“We are very pleased to offer this outstanding service to the community in South East Sydney as a model of best practice care – we look forward to seeing more services like this in the future”, said Mr Kell.
About ANGLICARE Sydney’s Chesalon Care services
· Provides high care, low care, extra services and dementia-specific care to more than 430 people over six locations in Sydney, the Illawarra and Shoalhaven
· The new Malabar facility provides 62 beds for high care and extra services residents, and a dementia day care centre
