Additional Beds Sought for Aged Care

Additional Beds Sought for Aged Care

Following a census earlier this year to gauge the total bed occupancy for hospital and resthome dementia care, the Canterbury District Health Board will be looking for more aged care beds in the Waimakariri and Hurunui Districts.

Making the announcement, the General Manager for Planning & Funding Dr Karleen Edwards said the February census has indicated more beds were needed in the Waimakariri and Hurunui Districts because bed care occupancy in both areas was now over 98%.

‘We have approved a Request for Proposal process for additional aged care beds and this process will start within the next six weeks,’ she said. All providers in the Canterbury aged care sector would be notified.

‘We will look for up to an additional 20 beds in Waimakariri and up to 10 additional resthome dementia beds in Hurunui. This initiative should address the growing needs of these two communities.’

Dr Edwards said the DHB would be closely monitoring overall rest home occupancy levels in the Selwyn and Ashburton areas as well as occupancy levels were over 90% in both localities.
The overall occupancy in aged residential care facilities in Canterbury was 84% which included subsidised residents, private paying residents and those other than aged care who were residing in residential care facilities.

‘Overall we believe the CDHB bed management is effective in relation to the services provided to meet the needs of elderly people who are assessed as requiring care and assisting maintenance of occupancy levels to promote provider’s financial viability.’

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