Elliston’s age care inquiry
THE Elliston District Council will explore possibilities for the expansion of supported accommodation and aged care accommodation in Elliston.
Elliston council chairman, Kym Callaghan said the existing aged care or supported living facilities included the Pines Hostel and four housing trust units.
Mr Callaghan said the council had directed himself and the council’s chief executive Phil Cameron to approach the health and housing ministers to start planning for the future.
He said aged care in Elliston was operating at about 90 per cent capacity and the council weren’t prepared to see it get it 100 per cent before investigating options.
“We’ll be getting in touch with the relevant ministers, the way we see it is if you don’t ask you don’t find out,” Mr Callaghan said.
“Rather than wait five years when we’re full and we don’t have any more beds, we getting in to sort something out.”
Mr Callaghan said there were four affordable housing units in close proximity to the doctor surgery and community health which lent itself to expansion.
He said there was “plenty” of land available at that site which is where the council thought it would be appropriate to expand.
“We have a lot of houses for sale in Elliston at the moment and a lot of people retiring so rather than wait and put ourselves under pressure in the future, we’re doing something about it now.”
Mr Callaghan said the council would like to expand by building six aged care units near the existing affordable housing units and medical services.
“There’s plenty of land there and I think that makes the most sense,” Mr Callaghan said.
He said Elliston had some of the best trained staff at its hospital and hostel and which was one of only a couple secure dementia wards on the Eyre Peninsula.
Mr Callaghan said he and Mr Cameron were directed by the council to investigate the towns options for expansion at this months meeting and they would begin that work soon.