Oceania Healthcare forges ahead on its $400 million construction programme

Tuesday, 16 April 2019

Oceania Healthcare is expected to complete 90 care suites and studios at the Trevellyn residential care home in Hamilton this year. Pictured is an illustration of the completed development.

Oceania Healthcare is making headway on its $400 million redevelopment programme that withdraws about 500 standard aged care rooms from use and triples the number of more expensive care suites.

As part of the modernisation programme Oceania is also doubling the number of its independent-living retirement apartments and units.

The programme reduces its proportion of aged care beds and raises the proportion of independent-living units.

Chief executive Earl Gasparich said its construction and modernisation programme from 2020 to the end of 2021 was spending approximately $400m.

The company, with 48 aged care facilities and retirement villages through the country, still proportionately had a greater focus than its competitors on residential care for elderly people who could no longer live independently.

Oceania Healthcare chief executive Earl Gasparich said Oceania would spend $400m in 2020 and 2021 on redeveloping and expanding its aged care and retirement village facilities.

* Oceania to spend $85m on Trevellyn redevelopment

* Controversial $50m rest home rebuild and expansion goes ahead in Christchurch**

While the largest retirement village operator, Ryman Healthcare, might have more rest home care beds, Oceania's proportion of care beds to independent-living units was greater.

By bed numbers Oceania was the third largest residential care provider for older people behind Bupa and Ryman Healthcare, and the sixth largest retirement village operator.

As part of its programme it is decommissioning almost 500 standard care beds and about 100 independent-living units and building new more expensive care suites and more new apartments and units.

Gasparich said the new suites and units would be at affordable prices.

At the completion of the programme, Oceania will have cut standard care rooms by a third, trebled the number of the more expensive care suites and studios and doubled the number of independent-living apartments and units.

Gasparich said most of its development was of its existing facilities rather than having to seek new large sites on the outskirts of towns and cities.

Formed in 2008 from the merger of Eldercare and Qualcare, the company already had residential aged care facilities in good locations. These were now being redeveloped to provide modern facilities.

Older people coming in to residential care were wanting more amenities which standard care rooms did not provide, he said.

Oceania was building new care suites and studios and converting some standard rooms into care suites which would have more space, an ensuite bathroom, maybe a kitchenette, separate sitting area or a balcony.

Oceania Healthcare is building a $50m aged care and retirement complex at Windermere Road, Papanui, Christchurch with 22 apartments and 71 care suites and studios.

The premium care suite carried extra daily charges.

The beauty of a care suite was that the resident did not have to shift if higher level hospital care was needed and a resident might also receive a subsidy from the Government if the resident was eligible.

Oceania was using the retirement village model for the care suites where a resident would buy a licence to occupy a care suite, as retirees did with independent-living units.

When they moved or passed away the operator took a deferred management fee from the resale of the care suite or unit. Oceania's deferred management fee was 30 per cent of the resale price.

The average stay in a care suite was three years compared to seven years in an independent retirement village unit.

The beauty also of the retirement village model was that resales of units and care suites provided part of the capital needed for further development, he said.

The company was on track to meet its target of delivering more than 250 new care beds, suites and units each year.

The care suites and units would this year be at Meadowbank, The Sands and Lady Allum residential care facilities in Auckland and at the new Trevellyn residence in Hamilton.

In 2020 and 2021 apartments and care suites would be completed at Windermere in Christchurch, Green Gables in Nelson, Gracelands in Hawke's Bay, Bayview in Tauranga. Elmwood in Auckland and more at Trevellyn, Meadowbank and Lady Allum.

Oceania construction programme

*Once its $400m construction programme is completed Oceania will have 5064 care beds, care suites and independent living units, 38 per cent more than the 3668 the company has now.

*Standard care rooms will fall from more than 2100 now to about 1480 in 2021.

*The more expensive care suites will triple from about 450 now to nearly 1350 in 2021.

*The number of independent-living units and apartments will double to 2239.

* Now Oceania has 58 per cent care beds, just over 12 per cent care suites and almost 30 per cent independent units and apartments.

* By the end of 2021 it will have just 30 per cent care beds, more than 26 per cent care suites and just over 44 per cent units/apartments.