CiF president Jaume Ferrer was joined today by Andreu Horrach, the Govern balear's director of planning and social services, and Vanessa Parellada, who is Formentera's councillor of social welfare, in placing the first stone of the assisted living residence for the aged. The residència's twelve-month build will cost €2.1 million and starts this week.
With 14 single and two double rooms, the facility will be able to accommodate 18 dependent individuals. Plans include a hallway connecting the building with the Centre de Dia, a measure which is intended to facilitate sharing of staff and resources (kitchens, laundry rooms and physiotherapy services, for instance) that are already available at the dependent care facility.
Public health network
President Ferrer also indicated the option is on the table for the residència's future expansion. The new facility “rounds out Formentera's public health network”, said Ferrer, referring to something that “first began to take shape in 2007 with the opening of the local hospital and continued four years later with the completion of the Centre de Dia”. Ferrer said the impulse would continue with the forthcoming start of operations at the local funeral home, and, after that, the seniors' nursing home.
Andreu Horrach, for his part, said the facility represents “a consolidation of services for dependent islanders” and predicted that, in roughly a year, such individuals would “no longer be forced to travel to other islands to receive care”. Horrach called the project “a good example of inter-administration cooperation” and said the process meant “adapting services to local needs, and using resources already available”.
The Palma administration will foot 70 per cent of construction costs and the CiF will pick up 30 per cent. Once the new facility is operational, the Govern will also pay for part of operation costs on a per-person, per-day basis, and the Council will cover the rest. The day's gathering was also attended by diputada Sílvia Tur and councillors from the CiF cabinet and opposition parties.
Social welfare councillor Vanessa Parellada sat down this morning at 10.30am with department specialist Azuzena Carrasco and Espai Dones chairwoman Dolores Fernández Tamargo to unveil the activities programme for International Women's Day on Formentera.
The Formentera Council's social welfare office reports that tomorrow, Thursday February 21, 6.00pm in the Centre de Dia, dietician and nutritionist Lydia Micó will lead a talk on planning a healthy diet. The evening is part of the activities programme of the department's “Family Support Group” (Grup de Suport Familiar).
Social welfare councillor Vanessa Parellada has paid a visit to Catalina Torres Ferrer, a full-fledged centenarian and Formentera native. Parellada brought her a bouquet of flowers and joined the birthday celebration at Torres' home in ses Bardetes.
