Joint Media Release
The Hon Ken Wyatt AM, MP
Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care
Minister for Indigenous Health
Member for Hasluck
Rick Wilson MP
Member for O'Connor
Officially opening the new 34-room wing today, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care, Ken Wyatt AM, and Member for O'Connor, Rick Wilson, said the expanded home would also receive an additional $2 million in annual recurrent funding.
"Our Government is committed to giving senior Australians more choices for longer lives," said Minister Wyatt.
"This means ageing with confidence, with as many aged care options as possible within local communities.
"If you have lived and worked in a place like Esperance all your life, you want to stay close to family and friends as you grow older, so it's important to have access to quality, safe and affordable aged care."
The new wing includes 17 rooms purpose built for the delivery of care to people living with dementia and boosts overall capacity up to 114 residents.
"This expansion is critical because Esperance is a growing area and a retirement haven for many Goldfields and farming families," said Mr Wilson.
"Our Government is committed to providing aged care services in regional, rural and remote Australia because they not only provide vital services, but also help maintain the economic and social viability of regional centres like Esperance."
The new wing of the Esperance Aged Care Facility was funded through our Government's Rural, Regional and Other Special Needs Building Fund, for the benefit of senior Australians, their families and friends living in Esperance and the surrounding region.
Minister Wyatt said regional Australia was also a key focus of the 2018-19 Budget's $5 billion aged care boost which included the landmark More Choices for a Longer Life measures to support better access to care, better quality of care and better ageing.
He recently announced Australia's largest ever expansion of residential aged care, with an extra 13,500 places allocated across the nation.
"This included 3,295 places for Western Australia, with 576 of these going to regional WA," Minister Wyatt said.
The WA state government contributed $3 million towards construction of the new Esperance facility in 2016, through the Royalties For Regions Fund.
