HEALTH professional Sue-Anne Redmond has returned to Orange to oversee the development of the new Calare aged care residential facility on Forest Road.
Ms Redmond brings to the job a vast background in health care, including her most recent position of Director of Clinical Governance for the Western Sydney Local Health District, taking in the busy hospitals of Westmead, Blacktown, Mount Druitt and Auburn.
“It’s good to be back in Orange. I suppose you could say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” she said.
“All my family is here in Orange so I am a country girl at heart.”
Ms Redmond has worked in several health sectors in the area, including as a pallative care nurse at Anson Cottage, and as director of nursing at Dudley Private Hospital.
“This really is a great opportunity and I am looking forward to the challenge,” she said.
Plans for the multi-million dollar aged-care facility, to be built opposite the Orange hospital on Forest Road, are before council.
Ms Redmond said even though the new nursing home would be state of the art, there would be a strong focus on creating a neighbourhood atmosphere.
“We will have a mixture of high and low care beds with options, for example, for couples who may have a mixture of low and high care needs,” she said.
“It will be a completely new model, with individual dining and recreation rooms in each wing, creating that sense of family and neighbourhood.”
Ms Redmond said building on the edge of town had its advantages.
“It will almost be a semi-rural setting and residents will be able to look out to the countryside,” she said.
“We even hope to have some sheep,” she laughed.
Ms Redmond expects the next few months to be intense.
“Early in the new year things will really get going on this project,” she said.
janice.harris@ruralpress.com
