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Blessing and Opening of St Elizabeth Villa

13 December, 2021
L to R, Bishop Michael, Anne Crowley, Facility Manager St Elizabeth Villa, Lanna Ramsay, Head of Aged Care Ozcare, & Frank Gilbert, Regional President of St Vincent de Paul Society Mackay Regional Council

St Elizabeth of Hungary has been chosen as the namesake for Ozcare’s award-winning aged care facility in Mackay.

Now at full capacity, the 120-bed St Elizabeth Villa was blessed by Bishop of Rockhampton, Michael McCarthy, at an official opening on 17 November the feast day of St Elizabeth of Hungary.

Ozcare Head of Aged Care, Lanna Ramsay, said the blessing ceremony took place on this feast as St Elizabeth is the patron saint of nursing services, as well as homeless people, hospitals, charities and widows. “St Elizabeth was an overwhelming favourite within Ozcare as the choice for this facility, because it is not only a place where residents are being cared for by nurses, allied health professionals and care staff, it is also their home,” Ms Ramsay said. “We are very grateful for how well our service has been accepted by the local community. It reflects the ethos of Mackay, a community that supports each other, and it is our privilege to ensure residents receive excellent care in a nurturing, friendly environment.”

Joining in with residents and their families in the blessing were Yuwi elder Philip Kemp, who performed a Welcome to Country, before country music legend Graeme Connors entertained guests.

The state-of-the art aged-care home with permanent, respite and dementia care opened in July 2020 and includes four dining rooms, a coffee shop, cinema, children’s playground, men’s shed, giant outdoor chess and overlooks the cane fields and Farleigh and Racecourse sugar mills.

Ozcare operates 16 aged care facilities throughout Queensland. For more information visit ozcare.org.au or call 1800 Ozcare (1800 692 273).