With the recent inauguration of the group’s new aged care facility, situated in the town of Plenty, it was evident that this objective had been achieved.
Much more than a nursing home, the new Aurrum Plenty complex looks and feels like a five-star hotel.
Spacious bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms and high-quality fixtures and fittings sit among elegant living rooms and communal areas where residents can converse or read in a peaceful and secure environment.
Divided into three levels - the first for residents with dementia and other serious diseases and the other two with 45 beds - the new centre offers high quality clinical care, a chapel situated inside the building, a Wellness Centre, a hairdresser, a spacious cafe with outdoor seating and a cinema.
Each room is fully equipped with all of the creature comforts, including a television with the Aurrum channel, which transmits the menu available in the dining rooms on a daily basis and the leisure activities provided, along with a movie channel offering more than 10,000 films.
The meals and menus are conceptualised by the head chef, who worked in prestigious restaurants before coming to Aurrum Plenty, in collaboration with a dietician.
Together they focused on the tastes and aromas of the Mediterranean, placing particular emphasis on Italian dishes.
“Aurrum is in fact Latin for ‘gold’ and we hope we are now creating the gold standard in aged care,” Aurrum president David Di Pilla said at the centre’s opening.
“Many people have commented that it’s similar to a five-star hotel and that was our objective.”
Established just three years ago, Aurrum has already opened 10 aged care homes - six in NSW and four in Victoria.
“We established the business to set a new standard and it’s been very well-received,” Mr Di Pilla said.
“All of our facilities are generally full and we’ve received great support from the community and we’ve continued to grow as a result of that; it’s been a successful model.”
Formerly an investment banker, Mr Di Pilla has lived not far from Plenty.
“Both my grandfathers came to Australia after World War II, from the town of Sulmona in Abruzzo, and the opportunity that we had in Australia as a family has been incredible and successful,” he said.
“Now, this in many ways is about giving something back to the community.
“When I was very young I lived nearby in Watsonia for two years, so it’s been great to build this facility.”
Mr Di Pilla spent his formative years on the Mornington Peninsula, where his parents ran a caravan park at Safety Beach.
“I learnt a great deal about business from my family and I’ve taken a few lessons from them.”
Aurrum is a family group which employs more than 1000 people nationally, and Mr Di Pilla’s extended family are very close and united.
“My sister and cousin are involved in the My Chemist business, which is the pharmaceutical provider to Aurrum,” he explained.
“We’ve set up another business together as well – we bought all of the real estate out of Masters Home Improvement last year, and we’re repurposing them into shopping centres.”
Federal member for Scullin, Andrew Giles, made a brief speech following a tour of the new aged care home and the traditional cutting of the red ribbon, congratulating Mr Di Pilla and Aurrum on the project, which will create more than 100 new jobs in the area.
