The event was attended by the Calvary Sisters, residents from the onsite Huntly Suites aged care home and the Hyson retirement apartments, Calvary Health Care Bethlehem staff and volunteers as well as members of the precinct project management team.

The Mass and Blessing were presided over by the very Reverend Father Dennis Stanley, Episcopal Vicar for Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations and administrator of the Parish of Mentone-Parkdale who was joined by Columban Father Ray Scanlon who has had a long relationship with Bethlehem since meeting the Sisters at their foundation in South Korea in 1969.

The new $154 million Calvary Kooyong precinct in Melbourne’s Caulfield South opened in January and brings together retirement living, aged care, GP and other health services, access to home care, and specialist sub-acute hospital services all in one location.

Calvary has been caring for the Melbourne community for more than 80 years with the Calvary Kooyong precinct being built on the site of the former Calvary Bethlehem hospital and convent. Stained glass from the original chapel has been repurposed into a triptych wall feature displayed in the new surroundings, and provides a poignant window into the site’s history.

The ceremony closed with the congregation joining to sing ‘Standing on the Shoulders’, a song that beautifully captures the philosophy of the Calvary Kooyong development and the innovation of the site itself, as well as our commitment to the stewardship of our organisation’s heritage.