In the late 1970s, travel agent Salvatore 'Turo' Chiodo was approached by an elderly woman from the Italian community.
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The woman was a resident at an aged care facility in the Illawarra but with limited English was unable to make her requests understood.
"Thank you for coming," the woman said. "For two days I've been asking for a glass of milk, and nobody understands me."
The glass of milk was provided but this set Mr Chiodo off thinking - with the first generation of the significant Italian community in the Illawarra reaching their old age - why wasn't there a facility that provided culturally appropriate care?
Using his connections within the Italian community, Mr Chiodo gathered a group committed to this cause. The group gathered funds and partnered with the Uniting Church to set up a nursing home that met their vision.
"After a while we got the money, and the funding from the government and we built Marco Polo in Unanderra," he said.
This week, management at Marco Polo confirmed that the original nursing home, which opened in 1983, had said goodbye to its last guest.
The last 15 residents were moved to Marco Polo's other facilities, Cordeaux Lodge on the same site in Unanderra, and the service's recently completed home in Woonona.
Today, staff past and present who worked at the nursing home will gather to look back at the 40 year history of the site. While the service has plans for the redevelopment of its facilities in Unanderra, it is understood that the former nursing home will remain mothballed for now.
Shadow NSW health minister and member for Keira Ryan Park said it was a "shame" that the facility had to close, amid a lack of aged care beds in the Illawarra.
"All of us are sad to see it go, it has provided an important service and important support, and it's going to be a challenge going forward," he said.
The local health district has been under pressure as patients who could be cared for in an aged care home remain in hospitals.
"Currently around 100 patients in Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District hospitals are eligible for care in residential aged care facilities," health district chief executive Margot Mains said.
Figures from the federal health department show that 179 care places were unused in the Illawarra on June 30, 2022. This represented 3.5 per cent of all care places in the region.
A "fast fill" program was run in 2022 to move patients from hospitals into aged care homes and 65 people were moved from hospitals across the district into aged care beds last year.
A surge workforce to add an additional 15 beds is being funded by the federal government.
But with Marco Polo one of the many aged care facilities facing financial hardship, without a major injection of funding into the sector it is unlikely that more beds will open to replace the recently closed nursing home.
Mr Chiodo said he would remember Christmases spent in the original wing.
"Every Christmas, we would have a big event, the Italian way, and Santa Claus would come down," he said.
"We used to do picnics on the grounds, people used to come here, but now with COVID, it's a real mess."
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