The Oakridge Villas Care Home in Kerikeri will become home to new residents in mid-September. Photo / Jenny Ling
The Oakridge Villas Care Home in Kerikeri will become home to new residents in mid-September. Photo / Jenny Ling
A newly constructed, multimillion-dollar aged care facility in the Far North will be an “asset to the community”.
That’s what Health Minister Shane Reti and Northland MP Grant McCallum reckoned when they visited Metlifecare’s Oakridge Villas Care Home in Kerikeri for the first time on Friday.
The $38m, two-storey building in Cobham Rd contains 65 luxury care suites, 50 of which are a mix of rest home and hospital-level care, and 15 secure dementia suites.
There is also a range of resident amenity spaces such as a cafe, restaurant dining, lounges, a library, and support spaces such as a commercial kitchen and on-site laundry.
About 520 jobs have been created throughout the various development phases.
Once fully operational, the care home will employ a team of 46 in permanent and part-time roles, including a nurse manager, registered nurses, caregivers, diversional therapists, kitchen and maintenance staff, reception staff and cleaners.
New residents can move in from mid-September.
Metlifecare staff, including chief executive Earl Gasparich (centre), with Health Minister Shane Reti and Northland MP Grant McCallum at Oakridge Villas Care Home. Photo / Jenny Ling
Reti said the facility was a “good thing for the Far North”.
“We know across all of New Zealand we have a shortage of residential aged care beds.
“Anything in the way of beds coming into the area is a good thing.
“We know the Far North struggles with aged care beds, particularly dementia where there are substantially more resources needed.
“So, I’m particularly pleased to have that offering in Kerikeri and Northland.”
The new Kerikeri care home was constructed on the site of the former Kerikeri RSA building, which closed in 2019 because of dwindling memberships and rising costs.
It took about 18 months to build, and is next to the Metlifecare Oakridge Villas, which consists of 137 two and three-bedroom independent living units and a centralised amenities pavilion.
Northland MP Grant McCallum tries out the chair in the hair salon at Kerikeri’s new care home. Photo / Jenny Ling
Metlifecare chief executive Earl Gasparich said the new facility was “an asset to the community”.
Each suite in the care home required a deposit of about $300,000, while the “daily care fee” was funded by the Government, he said.
A “huge amount” of people were interested in the rooms, including people in the community and Oakridge residents, Gasparich said.
Oakridge Villas manager Craig White said though there were 65 care suites, they could accommodate a maximum of 70 residents because five rooms could be used as doubles.
The building has been designed to a 6 Greenstar rating to provide a sustainable and healthy environment for residents.
Throughout the building are “Northland iconic photos and paintings”, such as the Stone Store and Kemp house.
“It’s all about trying to keep it familiar with the region,” White said.
Along with visits from family, residents are allowed visits from pet cats and dogs, provided they behave themselves.
Health Minister Shane Reti and Northland MP Grant McCallum talk with Metlifecare staff during a visit to the newly constructed Oakridge Villas Care Home. Photo / Jenny Ling
Jenny Ling is a news reporter and features writer for the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.
