There is, however, no plan to reduce the services offered to the community or the capacity of the service’s aged care facility.
REDHS chief executive officer Karen Laing, speaking at the Community Chat breakfast at Rochester Cafe on Thursday, May 18, said rumours of the services offered by REDHS being reduced, or the numbers at its Yalukang aged care service being cut, were untrue.
She said works on the restoration of the service had started and, aside from a hiccup with the exterior cladding of the hospital’s general wing, were continuing on schedule.
Further investigation of the stage one works, and what was included within the insurance scope of works, meant Ms Laing had to secure funding from another source to continue works on the general wing of the hospital.
“That funding is now secure and the rebuild has started,” she said.
“We are really working hard to restore the facility and everyone can be assured that our aged care facility is definitely coming back.”
She quashed rumours of the facility being reduced from 59 residents to a substantially smaller number, but did say it would operate at about 50 per cent when it first reopens.
“Our residents are all safe and being cared for by our staff,” Ms Laing said.
“We had 59 residents when we evacuated and some of those, like many members of the wider community, have permanently relocated and will not be coming back to Rochester.
“When we first reopen we will operate at about 50 per cent. There are currently 28 residents on our books who are planning to come back.
“There are another 11 who reserve the right to come back, but it will take some years for us to get back to where we were (numbers wise).”
Ms Laing said everyone who wanted to return to Rochester would have a place.
She said a clinical services plan was being completed to see what was required for the provision of services to the area for the next 15 years.
“The government is not going to spend $30 million on a restoration project that doesn’t serve the community in the future, hence our plans are future-focused,” she said.
Ms Laing said the primary care building, which includes the GP practice and allied care services, would be completed.
“That is the building which had the cladding problem,” she said.
“The supply department is second, enabling services such as the kitchen and laundry to be up and running before we have patients and residents back on site, then the aged care facility represents the final two stages.
“The whole contract is two years and several of these will overlap.”
Ms Laing said REDHS was already bringing some services, which had been operating in Elmore, back to Rochester.
Some of those services will operate out of the community house, while REDHS has entered into a partnership with Rochester’s Mackay St gym for the provision of its exercise group services.