During its 70th year celebrations, not-for-profit aged care provider Juniper with the Premier of Western Australia, Hon Mark McGowan MLA opened its latest residential aged care service, bringing a further 120 places for older people in need.
Opening the Juniper Chrystal Halliday residential aged care facility in Karrinyup, Chris Hall, Juniper CEO, said the organisation had invested more than $100 million in the past 18 months to meet demand for quality services across WA.
UnitingCare Australia has warned the possibility of a ‘perfect storm’ emerging in aged care, as older Australians face the prospect of being unable to access the supports they need. This is due to a deepening crisis of providers lacking the financial resources to meet the demands of quality service provision.
Informed by numerous recent reports that reveal the unsustainable financial performance of aged care providers across both ‘in-home’ and residential aged care settings, National Director of UnitingCare Australia, Claerwen Little, said the perfect storm forming is a direct result of increasing pressure on providers to deliver services in an unsustainable funding environment.
Living can be a full time preoccupation these days.
Alex is anxious about the kids’ lunches, torn school uniform and the rash on the cat. Teenage Roy is torn between sporting practice, hanging out with mates and updating his new My e-Health Record. Jace is juggling part-time jobs with uni studies and keeping up with friends.
Elena and Jorge are busy juggling work rosters (one FIFO), paying off the mortgage, keeping up with a parent in hospital and finishing off a gardening project. Laurie is battling telecommunication hiccups between his new NBN connection and an ageing computer that keeps hanging – whilst trying to juggle medical appointments and an aching body.
Aged care and retirement may be the new growth industry for rural communities in the future. People who have spent most of their life in rural and regional areas tend to want to retire and remain where they are, close to family, friends and familiar surroundings.
The opening of a new multi-million dollar Primary Health Care Centre in the Wheatbelt town of Cunderdin, along with eight new Age Appropriate Houses, will be a major boost to services that can be provided to the local people and those from adjoining communities.
Local residential and community aged care provider Juniper, a Uniting Church WA agency, has successfully secured a $350 000 Commonwealth grant to help deliver much needed additional accommodation and services in Wyndham.
“Regional Western Australia, particularly the Kimberley, is an area of great need for quality aged care services and we’re very grateful to receive grant funding that will go a long way to establish staff housing for the Juniper Marlgu service,” Chris Hall, CEO of Juniper, said.
Rev Ken Devereux, Chaplain Pastoral Care Services at Royal Perth Bentley Group, shares his thanks for Rev Margaret Smithson and her
many years of ministry at Royal Perth Hospital.
Sitting in the audience at the October Graduation for Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Interns at Royal Perth Hospital (RPH), Rev Margaret Smithson was reminded of her long involvement in the field of pastoral care.
UnitingCare Australia has welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement of a Royal Commission into aged care.
Claerwen Little, National Director of UnitingCare Australia, stated that the services of the Uniting Church in Australia supports action to ensure the safety of older people in our community, and all people in residential aged care settings.
WA’s Joyce Ashworth received national recognition at the 2018 Aged and Community Services Australia (ASCA) National Aged Care Awards today in Sydney, the leading event celebrating achievement in aged care across Australia.
Chris Hall, Juniper Chief Executive Officer, congratulated Joyce, a much-loved and well respected Multi-skilled Carer/Supervisor with an aged care career spanning an impressive 50 years – 45 of those years served continuously with Juniper. Juniper is a Uniting Church WA agency providing residential and community aged care.
“Joyce is a giving and inspirational mentor, her longevity and dedication to her role is a powerful example to her colleagues,” Chris said.
Juniper, a Uniting Church WA agency providing residential and community aged care, has opened its latest residential aged care service in one of the metropolitan area’s most rapidly ageing suburban areas.
Vaughan Harding, Juniper Chief Executive, said in the next 20 years the number of people aged over 70 years in the Gosnells-Armadale area is expected to grow by more than 115 percent to nearly 26,000.
Opening Juniper Hayloft residential care facility in Martin yesterday, Vaughan said the new centre brings 100 much-needed additional high care beds to Perth’s south-east.
“The Gosnells-Armadale area takes in more than 177,000 people or 7.2 percent of WA’s total population with an annual population growth of 58 per cent in the south-east, exceeding the 40 percent growth predicted for Perth and the remainder of the State,” he said.
Much needed additional aged care for the East Kimberley has been commissioned with the official opening of Juniper Gerdewoonem (‘Juniper among the Boab Trees’).
Juniper Chief Executive Vaughan Harding said the new multipurpose facility expands vital services to the Kununurra community and provides greater opportunities for local employment and career paths in aged care.
“Our investment in the Kimberley is significant and this latest initiative builds on Juniper’s strong commitment to supporting older people and their families in regional Western Australia,” he said. “In addition to bringing much-needed accommodation, this multipurpose aged care facility enables the expansion of home and community care services in the region, so older people have greater access to vital services in town and may no longer travel to Perth or Darwin to get the help they require.”