BROCKVILLE -- The finishing touches are being added to the new Donald B. Green Tower at the Brockville General Hospital (BGH).
CTV News Ottawa received a special tour of the new tower before the building officially opens.
First stop was the third floor terrace - a beautiful outdoor space overlooking Brockville.
"It’s a beautiful day," said Nick Vlacholias, President and CEO of the Brockville General Hospital.
"What you’ll see throughout the tower is that there are outdoor spaces but there is a lot of natural light coming in," Vlacholias said.
"One thing that the evidence has shown is that having an outdoor access actually promotes the healing of individuals."
There are terraces on every floor for patients to enjoy the outdoors while staying in the tower.
The third floor houses 32 beds for complex medical management, with 10 beds belonging to the palliative care unit.
There is a new family room with a lounge and shower for a private setting for families.
The second floor houses a 32-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit, where you’ll find the largest gym space in the building.
Physiotherapist Shannon Mosher was busy setting up equipment in the new space.
"Some great things that we have updated is we have new parallel bars, we have lots of new walkers to better help patients continue with their rehab and progress them a little bit easier," Mosher said.
"We have mechanical lifts that will help to support patients as well."
Close by, the second floor terrace was also designed with ramps and stairs.
"This will allow patients to come out and do their rehabilitation outside," Vlacholias said.
The colour scheme of blue, brown and yellow throughout the tower was even chosen by a Brockville native
"Stacy Fleming who works for Stantec Architects took the natural elements of the area, the St. Lawrence River, the Thousand Islands and she’s intertwined all the colour schemes within the building," Vlacholias said.
The first floor is home to acute mental health and addictions, and the brand new kitchen for the entire hospital.
Vlacholias says to see the finished tower come to life has been worth it.
"It's been almost 10 years in the planning phase and then construction began in March of 2018. This tower is just incredible," he said.
"It’s been one of the largest projects in history of Leeds-Grenville, an approximately $180 million project and it’s going to serve the community for a lot of decades."
If everything goes smoothly, the plan is to move patients from the garden street site into the new building on Oct. 24.
