Villa Spada Retirement Home Receiving 350M Euros for Major Renovations
The Cassa di Risparmio Foundation has allocated 350 million euros to the Villa Spada retirement home in Caprino to carry out a series of renovation works. “We are the only retirement home in the province to have received these funds,” specifies the institute’s president, Piero Bresaola.
The renovation plans include constructing a new elevator shaft for both disabled guests and beds; covering the terrace to prevent rainwater infiltration; paving part of the external courtyard to allow wheelchair-bound residents to use it; and covering another terrace located on the north side of the building to enable direct communication between the internal lounge and the outdoor area. The total cost of these works amounts to approximately 940 million euros.
Funding and planned works
“The entity can cover a part of the expenses, amounting to 200 million euros, with its own budget,” explains Bresaola. “Then there is funding from the Fondazione, and for the remaining amount, we have secured a loan with Cariverona.”
Regarding the elevator, the tender notice has been published recently, and we plan to start the works during the summer. This is an important project.
Currently, the Retirement Home already has two elevator shafts, but they are located at the far ends of the building, which causes significant inconvenience and discomfort, especially if one of the elevators becomes blocked. The new elevator will be installed in the center of the building, directly opposite the room we use for rehabilitative gymnastics, as well as for parties or religious functions.
The other renovations, on the other hand, will begin in the autumn.”
Structure and issues of the institute
The Villa Spada Elderly Assistance Institute hosts 120 residents; 100 of whom are non-self-sufficient. “The first expansion projects date back to 1988 and were carried out in successive phases,” explains the president.
“But they were designed with the idea of an institution mainly for autonomous elderly people. Instead, increased longevity in old age has encouraged families to keep their elders at home. As a result, admissions to these facilities now happen only at very advanced ages and when the residents’ physical and mental conditions are quite severe.”
In fact, Retirement Homes are turning into long-term care wards without adequate healthcare support. For example, many of our residents use wheelchairs, and hospitalizations are fairly frequent.
We have a specialized wheelchair-accessible minibus for transporting elderly residents to medical specialist visits and specific treatments that cannot be performed at Villa Spada. This vehicle was also purchased with financial support from the Fondazione and the Bima, the Montane Imbrifero Basin of the Adige River. But problems persist.”
Last but not least, the shortage of specialized staff. Finding nurses is increasingly difficult. At Villa Spada, two people from Sardinia responded to the latest competitive exam
“The risk is that they stay only a short time, at most a couple of years, and then return to their home regions. This means we have to start all over again,” warns Antonella Traina.