Wyndham and Districts Community Rest Home

WYNDHAM AND DI STR I CTS COMMUNI TY REST HOME close. That’s when, within weeks, the community had a meeting and they ultimately raised a huge amount of money just from donations, to buy the facility and meet the initial running costs. That was in October 1998. There were only five residents living in the rest home at the time, but that number was more than doubled within a few years. Then, in 2004, the board started planning for a big renovation. They applied for, and received, grants and loans which resulted in the addition of extra wings and brings us up to the 23-bed facility we have now.” The Home is situated in a good-sized rural catchment area. The next nearest rest home is a 20-minute drive away. All 23 beds are rest home level care with the ability to transition one to hospital level, as per the DHB contract so that if a resident becomes unwell, or end of life, they can remain in the facility for that time. The Home provides rest home level care rather than hospital level care because there isn’t a Registered Nurse onsite 24/7. The Home though does have 24 hour on call RN cover. Sinclair is an RN and is on call all through the week, while other RNs in the community are on call over the weekend, if required. As a small, not-for-profit organisation, the Home has always enjoyed huge support from local service organisations, along with a large number of volunteers. Imagine the thrill for the entire community, when their beloved Wyndham and Districts Community Rest Home was announced as the winner of both the Excellence in Care Invacare Small Operator Award and the Excellence in Care Supreme Award at the 2018 New Zealand Aged Care Association National Conference! Sinclair admits, “It was overwhelming to be recognized like that and it’s done such amazing things for the community. Even though we’re a small home, it doesn’t mean we’re small in our actions. We embrace our uniqueness and we face our challenges and find ways to make positive changes for our Resident’s because this is our residents’ home and it’s a privilege to be part of it.” Sinclair’s submission to the awards committee was based around the Home’s philosophy of inspiring each other to live life to the fullest. She explains, “Over the past five years, since I was appointed Manager, we have gone from a two year to a four year Ministry Certification with six continuous improvements, which are like gold stars in the industry. It’s all the result of team work – we have an awesome team who have all worked really hard. I want to give a special shoutout here to our Office Administrator Carolyn, who is such an integral part of our rest home.” The Home’s mission to serve the community is focused on the importance of providing high standards of care, every day, in a small, friendly environment. “We do get many compliments,” says Sinclair. “People come in and say that the environment is very welcoming and they realise that residents aren’t just a number. The community is actively involved. We are fortunate to have an amazing volunteer overseeing all our gardens, with the support of others and residents and a dedicated group called ‘the Garden Fairies’. They propagate plants and they’ve got a nursery going that they sell the plants and all the profits come back to the home for garden projects, whether its buying more plants, garden seats, building raised gardens or adding another tunnel house. Now we have three big tunnel houses, lovely raised gardens, and veggie and flower gardens.” When the facility was first taken over 21 years ago, a group called Friends of the Home was formed and they’ve been busy all this time. Since the Home is supplied with fruit from the community and does their own bottling and preserving, there are designated days when the ‘Friends’ come in and spend several hours with the residents preparing preserves, which are either put down in the freezer or bottled by the kitchen staff to be enjoyed all year long. The extras from our extensive gardens are also sold along with baking from volunteers at community