The care centre at Arvida Oakwoods Retirement Village is being refurbished, which a resident says is great news but a far cry from the new facility with a dementia unit that was promised a few years ago.
The residents’ committee secretary, Alec Waugh, says the refurbishments are a “stop gap” measure because the costs of care facilities are high and do not fit the business model of today’s retirement villages that are focused on rewards for their shareholders.
At one stage, Arvida had planned to demolish the care centre and build a new one with a dementia unit. Then the project was canned and now the existing facility, which Alec says was once deemed “not fit for purpose”, will get some rooms refurbished.
He says there’s not enough investment in care centres nationwide and eventually, elderly requiring care will be in hospital beds because there will not be enough beds in aged-care facilities. He’s not blaming the retirement villages, but the Government for failing to take responsibility for older people.
“There’s a huge problem emerging across the country, including here in Nelson, and the Government doesn’t appear to give a damn.”
He says governments over the past three decades have passed much of the aged-care responsibility to retirement villages and now that villages are retreating from aged care, the Government is ignoring a growing crisis.
“The Government has to come back into the care facility and rest home market and start putting some funds towards it. Otherwise, seniors are going to clog up our hospital beds.”
He says the New Zealand Government should be following its Australian counterpart which had a royal commission on the quality of aged-care services and whether they were meeting the needs of the community. The commission made 148 recommendations to the Australian Government, including the creation of the Aged Care Act 2024, new minimum staffing requirements, and reform to the aged care regulatory framework.
Aged Care Association New Zealand chief executive, Tracey Martin, says a government report here in 2024 projected that within 18 years, nine out of 10 hospital beds will be occupied by someone over 65.
She says, for too long, aged residential care has been underfunded and the rates set by the Government do not cover the true cost of providing high-quality care.
“That’s why some providers are deferring upgrades, closing beds, or stepping away from running care homes altogether. The consequence is a slow-moving crisis. If there aren’t enough care beds, older people will end up in hospitals – but hospitals aren’t designed for long-term residential care and are already stretched.”
While listed retirement villages play an important role in aged care, she says they are private businesses with obligations to their own residents, and it is not realistic for government to rely on them to solve the care bed shortage for all New Zealanders. She points out 60 per cent of aged residential care beds are provided by charities, community trusts, not-for-profits, and small owner-operators that struggle the most with inadequate funding.
Tracey says the Government has a duty to look after older New Zealanders, with a sustainable funding model that reflects the real costs of providing care.
MP for West Coast-Tasman, Maureen Pugh, acknowledges the challenges around aged care services and says the Government has committed $24 million over four years to give older people greater access to residential aged care, as well as care services outside of hospitals. She says the focus is on ensuring older New Zealanders have access to care and support that suits both the person’s preferences and their personal circumstances.
“Nobody would deny that our rapidly aging population is a huge, complex challenge - our aim is for a proper system that supports people’s need to age well, recognising most people prefer to live independently in their own familiar surroundings for as long as possible.
Maureen says Health NZ has been working with sector stakeholders and is developing a proposed new approach for identifying people’s needs and aligning the resources required to meet those needs.
At Oakwoods, the refurbishment of some of the care centre rooms follows the recent refurbishment of the community lounge area and courtyard.
Arvida confirmed planning is underway for a small number of standalone villas which are understood to be along its Lower Queen Street frontage.
