At the recent Dorcas Committee Rally at St Ives/Pymble Presbyterian Church, PAC CEO Paul Sadler gave the following summary about PAC in 2017:
“2017 will be another year of change for PAC, we are now looking after over 1,800 older people each week. In the last couple of years we have opened Pitt Wood Village at Ashfield, and so far we have sold 24 of the 25 retirement living units; we are also supporting Kirk Apartments at Christ College in Burwood, with 12 of 42 ILUs filled; we have commenced renovations and expansion in Thornleigh; and we’re getting ready to officially open The Terraces at Paddington; and we just keep growing!”
“With more and more older people in need of our assistance, it is clear that more changes will be needed in order to achieve a people-centred and sustainable organisation. All changes take time, thus, we are committed to keep you informed about the existing and future changes ahead.”
In this instance we are focusing on areas of pressing significance:
1. The Terraces at Paddington
A 100 bed residential aged care facility and 14 retirement village units will open in stage 1 of the project, that despite the challenges, is proceeding close to the timeline for November 2017. An extra 13 units, including 9 in the heritage building will open in the first half of 2018. The existing 88-bed residential aged care facility will close in November, and 52 ILUs will be constructed and due for completion around April 2019. An iconic project for PAC and the Presbyterian Church with a cost of $148 million.
2. PAC Thornleigh
Facility expansions and renovations need to track demand, in terms of comfort and effectiveness of services. To give effect to this, the Thornleigh project has commenced and will see complete refurbishment of the existing residential aged care building, and an extension. In all a total of 67 beds including a dementia unit will be completed towards the end of 2018. We will be assisting our manager, Jan Armstrong, and her team during the 18 months of unavoidable interruptions.
3. Home Care
As part of an ongoing reform, the Government changed the funding arrangements for Home Care Packages (HCP). Since February 27, 2017 each HCP is owned by the consumer, not the provider.
With government reforms also comes opportunity and consequently we have been preparing to reorganize our Home Care services completely, which has been successfully done in the past few months. As a result, PAC can now be contacted by simply calling 1800 PAC NSW (1800 722 679) to request service delivery options across NSW and ACT.
In the wake of such changes and to take advantage of this opportunity, we have also commenced a marketing plan. The aim is to better advertise PAC services and reinforce our status with existing clients. Our marketing team is working on various tasks, such as a new website that will contain comprehensive targeted information for consumers and their families.
On a side note, last week we received advice of the new funding made available to PAC, from the Department of Health under the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) for allied health services in ACT and New England, and for flexible respite in Illawarra.
4. Longer term plans
Building on our capabilities remains relevant for years to come. Accordingly, we have identified various projects to continue our growth and have us ready for more competition and government reforms:
- Alongside the mentioned projects we are also working (in conjunction with the Ministry & Mission Committee) to develop a master plan for Gosford & Leppington
- Looking into expand our services by tailoring partnerships with various Community Housing Providers and other aged care providers
- Studying the possibility to add to our facilities by developing sites in Illawarra and New England
- Exploring the idea of new service models in areas of health and wellness