New 60-bed aged care, dementia facility to be built in Darwin region

A new high-level aged care facility offering the Territory’s first specialist dementia care will be built in the Darwin region. Read what’s planned.

A new 60-bed aged care facility housing the Territory’s first specialist dementia care will be built in the Top End.

Expressions of interest opened on Monday for aged care organisations to build, own or operate the new centre.

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said the new facility would provide high-level care beds and ease pressure on hospitals.

“(Of the 60 beds) 12 of these will be specialist dementia care – something we don’t have in the Northern Territory and that is important,” she said.

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has announced a new 60-bed aged care facility containing the Territory’s first specialist dementia care will be built in the Top End. Picture: Annabel Bowles

“The commonwealth government is responsible for aged care but traditionally in the Northern Territory we see very thin markets, we see beds provisionally allocated but they don’t come to fruition.

“The Northern Territory government, through the Department of Health, has taken the unusual process to bid for these beds and they were allocated a couple of years ago.

“During that time we’ve been working closely with the sector around what the needs are and what type of model we might be able to see here.

“Hopefully we can do something innovative here that delivers that care that is desperately needed, provides relief within our hospital system.”

Palmerston Regional Hospital has been identified as a possible location for the new aged care facility. Picture: Justin Kennedy

Ms Fyles said Palmerston Hospital had been raised as a potential site for the new federally-funded facility however the development would be planned after the EOI period, which is open for six weeks.

But she warned it “would take some time” before the aged care facility was operational.

Council on the Ageing NT chief executive Sue Shearer said the announcement was much welcomed.

“(About) 450 seniors moved to the Northern Territory in 2022 … eventually they will need aged care assistance,” she said.

“We have the highest growth of over 65s in Australia – Canberra is the second.

“We’ve got people really wanting to go into an aged care facility and they’re waiting three, four years.

“That’s why they end up in Royal Darwin Hospital taking beds where they probably shouldn’t.”

NT Health head of geriatrics Dr Michael Lowe said the facility, particularly the 12 dementia care beds, was needed in the Top End. Picture: Annabel Bowles

NT Health head of geriatrics Michael Lowe said there were about 50 aged care patients in hospital on any given day.

“For aged care we have about a third to a half the beds per elderly population that they do down south,” Dr Lowe said.

“In terms of nursing home beds we really don’t have very many.”

Solomon MP Luke Gosling said while “there was a lot more to be done”, the new facility was great news for the Top End.

“This 60 beds in the short term is going to make a real difference,” he said.

“We want our seniors to be able to stay in the community where their kids are, where their grandkids are.”

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Originally published as New 60-bed aged care, dementia facility to be built in Darwin region