Work to start on new Rockhampton Mercy Haven aged care facility

Nearly two years after plans were first unveiled, work is about to start on a brand-new aged care facility in Rockhampton, replacing one of the city’s oldest unrenovated centres. VIDEO, PLANS.

Work on Rockhampton’s newest aged care facility is underway, with the sod officially turned on the Mercy Community project on Wednesday.

The new facility, which will be called Mercy Haven, will be able to care for up to 90 residents.

Plans were ceremoniously unveiled for the $42 million project in November 2021 after the Mercy Community Centre opened in August 2020.

The plans detail a 9o-bed, three-storey building which has been designed to provide the highest level of care of the elderly, including those with complex needs and will feature state-of-the-art facilities including private rooms with ensuites, community spaces and gardens.

Mercy Community appointed Paynters as the contractor to construct the new facility.

View from the front entry of the proposed new building at Mercy Health and Aged Care. Renders by ThomsonAdsett

On Wednesday, a special liturgy was held to commemorate the sod being turned.

Representatives from the Mercy Community Board and senior leadership team, Mercy Partners, building contractors Paynters, and local politicians, joined team members from the existing Bethany aged care home to mark the special occasion.

Mercy Community CEO Fritha Radyk said once the new build was complete, residents of the Bethany building would move into Mercy Haven with some already excitedly picking their bedrooms from the plans.

The sod was officially turned marking the beginning of construction for the new Mercy Haven facility.

“The existing Bethany building has been around for a long time, and while our team provide amazing care for everyone in there, it’s an old-fashioned model and we want a new facility that meets current standards for our very special residents,” she said.

“The current facility was built on a medical model more than 45 years ago and is one of the oldest un-renovated residential aged care facilities remaining in Rockhampton.

The two-storey building and separate kitchen building would be built on the vacant corner on Spencer and Agnes Street.

“We’re adding some new beds, so there’s a few extra coming in and we’re taking the opportunity to consolidate some of our other facilities around Rockhampton into this.

“Once this new building is built we hope to start work on the refurbishment of the old Bethany to create an even more fantastic service for the residents of Rockhampton.”

Ms Radyk said expressions of interest for the new facility would open once they knew an exact opening date.

She said when the new facility was completed, the organisation would continue recruiting for more aged care staff.

“We’re always recruiting, we’re a large organisation right across Queensland and now into Northern New South Wales,” she said.

“We love it when talented, quality people want to come and work for us … everybody needs nurses and we have wonderful nurses and are meeting those requirements as best we can.”

The project has a special place in the heart of Capricornia MP Michelle Landry whose father was a resident at the Bethany facility.

She said $17.8 million in Federal Government funding was going towards the project.

“This is really, really important – we’ve got an older population now and there aren’t as many placings at facilities like this as we’d like to see, so to have something new like this in Rockhampton is going to be a great win for our community,” she said.

Construction on the building is expected to be complete by late 2024 with the first residents expected to move in by early 2025.