Baptist Care to take over DSC's Croydon Hostel in Subiaco

1/7/98

Western Australia has taken the lead in providing specialist services to ageing people with intellectual disabilities through a new partnership with a major aged care service provider.

Disability Services Minister Paul Omodei has announced that Baptist Care will take over responsibility for the Disability Services Commission s (DSC) Croydon Hostel in Subiaco from today (July 1).

Mr Omodei said the transfer represented a significant innovation in residential care for ageing people with disabilities.

"In the past, elderly people with disabilities have had to live in nursing homes when their health had deteriorated to a level where they could no longer remain in DSC accommodation," he said.

"We know this is not a satisfactory solution, as mainstream nursing homes are not equipped to meet the special needs of people with intellectual disabilities."

Mr Omodei said transferring the hostel to an experienced aged care service provider, like Baptist Care, was the best possible outcome for the residents.

"Croydon has been home to its 12 residents for most of their adult lives and moving them to alternative accommodation could be distressing for them," he said.

"This way, they will get the services they need in comfortable and familiar surroundings and the disability sector will get a new service provider with specialised skills."

Mr Omodei said that as WA's population aged, the number of people with a profound or severe handicap aged over 60 years would increase by almost 20 per cent over the next five years.

"The State Government recognises the need for planning for this significant demographic shift which poses a major challenge to both the State and Federal governments and the disability and aged care sectors," he said.

The Minister said transfer of the hostel had come about after 12 months of careful planning and extensive consultation with staff, families and carers of the residents.

"The transfer of Croydon to Baptist Care is just the first move in the development of a long-term strategy which will better meet the needs of ageing people with disabilities in the future."

Mr Omodei said the DSC would be hosting a major national conference on ageing and disability in December.

Baptist Care chief executive officer Ken Ridge said his agency had been looking to expand its operations into the disability sector for some time. Mr Ridge said a chance remark after church some years ago had led to the new partnership.

"A woman who attended my church, and who had an adult son with intellectual disabilities, first alerted me to the situation facing him and people like him as they got older," he said.

"We saw it as an opportunity to work with people in need and it dovetailed into what has been our core business for more than 24 years.

"It was then just a natural progression for us to tailor our services to meet the special needs of people with intellectual disabilities who are ageing."

Mr Ridge said he was pleased that a number of the Croydon staff had decided to transfer to Baptist Care and he was hopeful that the agency would continue to work closely with the DSC on other projects in the future.

Media contact: Hugh Ryan - (08) 9366 0200/ 9480 5591 (pager)