Coonabarabran’s Aged Care facility “Cooinda” has contributed to the community’s economy for over 40 years as the town’s largest employer. With the current refurbishment project well on the way, the organisation now has the funds to complete the whole plan to include the kitchen and laundry.

A recent grant for Cooinda Nursing Home has seen the organisation receive over two million dollars to give the current kitchen and laundry facilities an upgrade to increase the capacity for service provision and create more employment opportunities well into the future. 

Cooinda’s Chief Executive Officer Leanne Redfern says the new kitchen and laundry will do so much more than just improve aesthetics. 

“It’s not just about upgrading to have more space, it is also about compliance with food safety and infection control regulations.” Mrs Redfern said. 

During the Covid-19 outbreak infection control has been the main focus for the organisation, with aged care facilities being particularly vulnerable to the spread of infections of any kind. 

Providing meals to over 90 people on any one day, the Cooinda kitchen is constantly in use to cater for everyone’s different needs at each meal.

“There’s usually three people in the kitchen at the busy times and this can be challenging” Leanne said. 

At just over $2.1 million, the upgrade will be extensive with the laundry being relocated and the kitchen being expanded to twice the current size.  A new cool, room and freezer will also be installed. 

The high costs of the project is standard for the industry, according to Mrs Redfern. 

“I’ve found that in aged care, no matter what you do it comes with a high price tag,” Mrs Redfern said. 

According to Mrs Redfern, receiving such a significant grant is a testament to the organisation’s contribution to the Coonabarabran community, employing over 110 staff members and contributing an annual wage of $6.6m to the local economy. 

“We are a very important business in our town.  We are owned by the community and remain a registered charity.  We are very lucky to remain independent of the large providers” said Mr Redfern. 

“Cooinda is a wonderful facility, and this upgrade will make life much easier for the hard-working staff, which in turn will have a significant impact on the quality of care provided to our elderly residents,” Member for Parkes Mark Coulton said. 

Coonabarabran isn’t the only community receiving the grant, with funding for Gilgandra and Broken Hill bringing the funding for Western NSW towns to $11 million.  

Gilgandra is set to receive almost $330,000 for the Mill on the Miller Street project. The funding will go into revitalising the town centre and creating ways to link laneways with the Castlereagh River. 

Further afield, Broken Hill is buzzing at the news of receiving $8.7 million to fund a new library and community hub building, as well as the redevelopment of the existing library into an archive centre. The funding is hoped to boost tourism in the city which remained under stay-at-home orders since its closure in early August. 

The funding isn’t the only good news for the residents of Cooinda as they are now able to enjoy some additional freedoms and re-join the community after many months of restrictions. 

“Here at Cooinda we have been lucky in many ways and look forward to getting back to some form of normality,” Mrs Redfern said.