Calvary’s extension will include the Mary Potter Palliative Care Unit and St Joseph’s Rehabilitation Unit – both state of the art facilities, the likes of which have not been in the city before.

The long-awaited palliative care unit will feature eight beds, available for both private and public patients, and has been designed as an acute facility targeted at short-term stays.

Cardiologist Gerard Carroll, part of Wagga’s Palliative Care Alliance, said the opening of the new palliative care ward was a big win for the city and filled a gap in its cancer services.

“We’ve had fantastic cancer services for the whole Riverina for many decades,” he said.

“What we haven’t had is an inpatient specialist palliative care facility for people that are either at the very end and can’t manage at home, or people who have severe debilitating disease and need to be stabilised, have their symptoms improved and managed so they can get back home again.”

The facility will also be aimed at those needing respite care, allowing families to have a break from caring for the seriously ill for a short period of time.

“It’s a short-term stay facility … some people will stay weeks, other people will stay days and some people will come in and out,” Dr Carroll said. “They come in, stabilise a symptom, get well enough to get home and they come back three or four weeks later because they’ve deteriorated. The aim is to get people home.”

With the population around Australia – including in the Riverina – continuing to get older, having a state-of-the-art palliative care unit is vital, according to Calvary chairman John Watkins.

“This is a giant step forward for the Riverina and it’s needed – we’re aging very quickly,” he said.

“More and more, it’s clear we need good palliative care to enable people to die in a way they deserve. Because we’re aging and because we’re living longer, there’s going to be a greater need for centres like this.”

The new units are expected to start taking patients at the end of the month.