It was an honour to have Ken Wyatt, Minister for Aged Care and Indigenous Health launch the new wings of Jimbelunga Nursing Centre on the 4 August. Also joining us was Aunty Pam Mam the first Indigenous nurse to be employed by ATSICHS. She continued to work in the organisation for the majority of her working life, sixteen years of it at Jimbelunga.

Jimbelunga Nursing Centre has been providing an extensive range of aged health care and support services in the community since November 1994.

Located in Eagleby, in the outer suburbs of Brisbane, it provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with residential aged care and support including, meals, laundry and medical and allied health services.

ATSICHS Brisbane received $12.5m in funding from the Federal Government to redevelop the Jimblelunga aged care facility. This enabled much needed upgrades to the existing facilities and the ability to expand, with an increase of 19 new beds for residents, taking the number from 55 to 74.

Stage one of new build and expansion project was completed in 2016 with residents moving into this building this month. Stage 2 included the re-furbishment of the existing nursing home building known as Casuarinam, which saw the rooms turned into large sized single rooms with shared ensuites and a brand new 7 bed secure unit (formerly known as dementia units).

The final stages were completed recently with residents moving in.