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MACEDON RANGES HEALTH SERVICE

MACEDON RANGES HEALTH SERVICE

Macedon Ranges Health Services have a nursing home built in 1991 comprising 30 beds. The planning of the building was on the old hospital racetrack model with two and four bed rooms located around a central core containing showers, toilets, nurses' station and storage facilities. The facility achieved a relatively low score in the first round of Certification and does not meet the proposed 2008 Standards.

The client determined that the facility required a major upgrade to bring it up to market expectations and to meet 2008 requirements. Detailed planning analysis revealed that if the facility were improved to 2008 'New' Standards with one and two bedrooms with ensuite facilities, that after refurbishment an additional eight beds would be required.

Planning was undertaken to determine the refurbishment configuration, add the additional eight beds, plus new lounge socialisation areas and a new dining area.

The major problem with the development proposal was how to maintain a service with thirty beds and carry out refurbishment on a progressive basis while the building was occupied.

The new eight bed wing was planned and it was determined that at minimal cost ($40,000.00), six of the eight new bedrooms could be enlarged to two-bed rooms giving fourteen beds in which to decant during the refurbishment program.

The first beds were built and occupied allowing the old building to be refurbished in three stages and in an economical manner.

The refurbishment comprised turning former two bed rooms into a single room with an ensuite bathroom and converting a series of four bed rooms into two bed rooms with ensuites. Even though this work involved saw cutting existing floors and setting down concrete slab to form ensuite bathrooms, the work was done whilst residents were living in other parts of the building, without major disruption.