Avonlea Rest Home

consists of one building with wings off the main corridor, a large dining room and kitchen at the front with admin down one end and activities and hospital level care down the other end. When Avonlea is operating at full capacity, there are 50 employees including admin staff, registered nurses, enrolled nurses, quality staff, caregiving staff, kitchen, maintenance, cleaning, and activities. As well as caring for their residents, they also offer a day-stay program that runs five days a week. Presently there are 20 clients from the community who come into Avonlea for the day to socialise, participate in various activities, outings and enjoy morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and then they’re taken home. The facility also provides Meals on Wheels seven days a week; a main meal and dessert that’s delivered locally by Avonlea kitchen staff at lunch time. Looby acknowledges, “The beauty of being in a rural area is that we offer both levels of care – hospital and rest home – so if a resident deteriorates to a point where they’re requiring extra care, they don’t have to leave. A lot of our clients have been born and bred in Taumarunui, and some of them were actually born in the old Avonlea, so it’s like a full circle. We also have valuable volunteers that come in from the community. One is a lovely Spanish lady who’s moved to Taumarunui; she pampers the residents, does their hair and nails, massages, and waxing – and they love her. We also have plenty of pets that visit. One of our day-stay ladies brings in her 15-year old Chihuahua, called Jackson. He sits in a little basket in her walker.” Because of the rural location, it’s not unusual to have horses, lambs, rabbits, even turtles come to visit. And residents are taken out in the van for Pet Day and cake judging at local schools. The aim is to make it as much like home as possible. The view itself is a joy… looking out over farmland; the railway crossing over the Ongarue River. “Some of the old farmers can sit and watch the world go by from their room,” says Looby. “A few years ago, we had an issue where we only had eight hospital level beds available at Avonlea. They were always full and there was always a waiting list. That was when we only had 41 beds, so residents were having to go out of town, which was really sad. I had ladies crying on the phone because their husbands didn’t have a bed. It pulled at your heartstrings. So, about seven years ago, I put a business case to the Trust Board that we needed to extend our bed capacity. Being a not- for-profit, it was a big risky project, but we took it on and built eight extra ensuited rooms onto our facility, with a dual use of rest home or hospital level care. That really seemed to be the right amount to avoid other people having to go out of town.” For the last 18 to 24 months, the Trust has been looking at building independent living units. Avonlea sits on a large site with a large open area that could accommodate 100 sq. metre duplexes. Looby reports, “We’ve been working with Warwick Bell from Bell Kelly Beaumont Team Architects Ltd. He’s been the forerunner with all of this. And we just got pricing, so we’ll be discussing the construction tender from Mike Greer Homes and moving on from there. Taumarunui has no AVONLEA REST HOME