BaptistCare Caloola welcomes its first residents

Now that the redevelopment of our brand-new aged care home in Wagga Wagga, BaptistCare Caloola is complete, we were excited to welcome our first residents through its doors recently!

The team welcomed Max as the first resident, and the remaining residents joined him soon after.

“We are delighted to witness our first residents enter BaptistCare Caloola. Our team has put in a lot of hard work over a long period of time, but it is so satisfying to see the beginnings of a new era for BaptistCare Caloola,” said Biji Chacko Mathew, Residential Manager at BaptistCare Caloola.

“We are excited for what lies ahead, although there’s still a lot of work to do!”

There was a noticeable “buzz” around the home, with some of the new residents visibly excited to be part of the new cohort of residents.

"I was so excited about moving in that I packed my bags two weeks before the opening!" said resident, Anne.

“The moment I saw the home, tears came streaming down my face. I feel so happy and blessed to be here."

The redevelopment of BaptistCare Caloola features 80 contemporary single resident rooms with private bathrooms. The home is divided into five households of 16 rooms, with each household having its own family room, dining room, kitchen and multiple breakout spaces. There’s also a new café that will provide a shared space for residents, families and visitors to connect, along with extensive gardens, walkways and undercover outside areas for residents to enjoy. For residents who live with dementia, the home features direct and secure access to landscaped gardens and outdoor areas.

BaptistCare has a long history in the Wagga Wagga and surrounding Riverina community spanning more than 50 years. This history dates back to 1973, when the Baptist Home Trust (as BaptistCare was then known) purchased 2.6 hectares of farmland at Kooringal on the outskirts of Wagga Wagga. On this site, Caloola Court, a 68-bed hostel was constructed in the late 1970s, while the aged care home, Caloola Centre, as we know it today, followed in the mid-1980s. Over the years, extensions made to Caloola to increase the size of the home took place several times during the 1990s through to the early 2000’s.

Now with the redevelopment of the brand-new BaptistCare Caloola complete, BaptistCare will continue its commitment to serving the local community, as well providing ongoing employment for our existing care, administrative and hospitality employees.

“We hope that this redevelopment will provide an enhanced experience for residents, employees and the wider community that we serve and we are excited about the future and the opportunities that lie ahead,” said Biji.