New aged care beds open at Tenterfield Care

Tenterfield Care’s Haddington Aged Care Community has just opened an additional 28 aged care beds.

It is a significant milestone for the New England community, and one of many investments by Apollo Care to enhance its Haddington and Millrace aged care communities.

The Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce MP, said: “Given regional Australia is facing significant aged care bed closures, and more than 50% of aged care communities are operating at a loss, Tenterfield Care is a terrific success story.

“We know that Australia’s population is aging, and our region is no different. Almost a quarter of Tenterfield’s population is aged over 70, so we need to ensure we have good aged care communities and good operators in our region.”

“We’ve deployed cutting-edge technology and programs to enhance resident care, staff wellbeing and operational efficiencies; spent over $1 million providing affordable housing for workers; and have plans underway to enhance Haddington’s existing rooms and Millrace’s common areas,” said Stephen Becsi OAM, CEO of Apollo Care.

He said all the hard work undertaken on this project is paying off, particularly in addressing the sector’s biggest challenge: workforce.

“We’ve directly recruited 17 registered nurses, internationally qualified nurses and personal care workers, plus we’ve optimised rosters. This has reduced the use of agency staff from 55 to 20%, providing residents with greater continuity of carers, and significantly reduced costs.”

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