From left, Beattie Community Trust leaders Stuart Gower and Andra Neeley, Taranaki-King Country MP Barbara Kuriger, and trust members Jocelyn Horsfall and John Millar discussed future extensions. Holding an initial draft of the plans is Beattie Home manager Olive Utiera.
Recent hospital-level upgrades at Ōtorohanga’s Beattie Home attracted significant interest last week when the complex opened its doors for a community open day.
The upgrades are the latest in a long-term strategy to boost capacity at the complex.
Olive Utiera, Beattie Home general manager, said the number of people aged 80 and over in the Ōtorohanga district was projected to quadruple in the next three years.
“From a strategic point of view, we have to look at what we can do to support that in our community, and these renovations are part of it.”
She outlined the developments of the home, which has been at the heart of the Ōtorohanga community for many years. It grew out of the original maternity home which opened in 1952 on the same site.
After that closed in 1986 the town’s leaders saw an opportunity to create a place for the elderly, and Beattie Home, named after one of the town’s earliest doctors, was opened in 1988 with 27 beds.
In 2004, the Wilshier Centre was added, providing a residents’ activity lounge, and the Kowhai Wing with nine ensuite rooms was completed in 2016 to further extend care options. In 2021 the Papakāinga Homestead opened as a self-contained dementia care unit.
What was missing amid all those extensions were facilities that would enable residents to transition to hospital-level care within the complex when the need arose.
“We have been increasing the number of hospital-level rooms equipped with a hoist, and have more to do,” said Utiera. “It means people here now have access to continuing care. In the past, they had to go elsewhere, which was upsetting for them. Now they can transfer to our hospital-level care without leaving Beattie.”
Last week’s tour showcased new hospital-level rooms, as well as an upgraded nurses’ station with a secure, temperature-controlled drugs room, a bright new reception area, and two respite rooms which are being well used. Appropriate levels of care are available 24/7.
Business services leader Christine Fleming said the respite rooms were available at all levels of care.
“They are intended to give families a break from caring for their loved ones at home, be a place for their loved one if the family is going away, or a place of transition if someone has been discharged from hospital and is not ready to go home.”
All 59 beds across the complex’s different facilities are full, said Beattie Community Trust chairperson Andra Neeley. “Some residents are transitioning from one area to another, and we have people on waiting lists for both rest home and dementia care.”
Among the stream of visitors taking hourly guided tours showcasing the new services was Taranaki-King Country MP Barbara Kuriger.
Visitors were shown the state-of-the-art, two-chef commercial kitchen, which produces meals and teas completely in-house. Facilities leader Janeanne Smith said the complex was now also offering a ‘meals on wheels’ type service that would either deliver within the Ōtorohanga radius or be available for collection by families further afield.
Neeley said there was considerable scope to extend that service.
Visitors also toured the complex’s secure gardens and outdoor areas, which are cared for by Friends of Beattie volunteers.
Trust members spoke to Kuriger about future plans for Beattie Home. Land has been secured, Neeley said, but a projected timeline would be dependent on accessing funding.
