Goodwin’s Ralph Cartwright Centre live-in care community at Monash celebrates 21 years on Monday 6 February – having been officially opened by then MLA Kate Carnell on 6 February 1996.
The Ralph Cartwright Centre stands out among Goodwin’s four live-in care communities, as a low-rise cottage style development with lush, well-developed gardens and a very homely feel.
The Ralph Cartwright Centre was first constructed as part of the original Goodwin Monash village, which was commenced in 1993 and incorporated 73 independent living villas plus a residential aged care facility with a specialised memory support unit.
Today the original village links to the newer Monash village development via a bridge across Goodwin Pond.
The centre was officially opened in 1996 by the then MLA Kate Carnell.
It was named the Ralph Cartwright Centre in 1999, after extensions, and was opened by The Hon Bronwyn Bishop, then Minister for Aged Care.
The name acknowledges more than a decade of service to Goodwin and Canberra’s seniors, by Mr Ralph Cartwright, who sat on the Goodwin Board from 1986 to October 1999. Mr Cartwright was dedicated to providing services to the community. He was passionate in providing purpose-built facilities for dementia-specific services that would accommodate older people in need well into the future.
Mr Cartwright joined Goodwin as Secretary to the Board in 1986 and became President in 1987. He was part of the planning committee who first took the proposal for Monash residential care to the ACT Government in 1992.
After final extensions to the village were completed in 2004, the facility was awarded Special Purpose Housing of the Year, at the HIA Housing Awards in 2005.
The Ralph Cartwright Centre is unique among Goodwin’s residential care facilities, offering intimate, cottage-style accommodation and specialist dementia care.
The cottage design supports Goodwin’s de-institutionalised approach, where care is centred on the individual (rather than the diagnosis) and their quality of life.
Today, the Ralph Cartwright Centre offers 66 single bed ensuite rooms across the Azalea, Clover and Bluebell Cottages.