A Warwick rest home could evolve into an assisted living home while growing to match the rising demand for such a facility.Paul Claude, of the Lorraine Rest Home, spoke at the meeting of the Hamilton Rotary about a master plan to develop the site.“They have been trying to renovate the home for many years now, and I made it my mission to finish what was started 20 years ago,” he said.“The plan was to increase the number of beds at the home by 30 percent. I started looking at the property and I could see increasing not just the beds in the parish, but all the beds in the Island by 30 percent.”Julia van Beelen of architectural firm Cooper Gardner said that while there are 3,000 people on the Island over the age of 65, there are less than 450 beds at the Island’s rest homes, and all of those facilities are intended for those who need assistance.“It doesn’t recognise that not everyone getting old is ill or frail,” she said. “We want to create a facility where we are allowing people to live together, so we are dealing with the issue of isolation but not assuming they are not well.”Mr Claude and Ms van Beelen said they were meeting with community stakeholders to seek funding for a master plan, which would set out the nature and scale of the project.“The possibilities are endless,” Ms van Beelen said. “We have people who are getting older and we don’t have enough beds to accommodate these people.“People have the kids out of the house and they want to downsize, but why would they want to go to a care home? They’re not sick.“That’s where the assisted care model works. And if you get older and you need that level of care, it’s there for you.”