VINCENNES, Ind. (WTHI) – Good Samaritan will unveil to the public its newly built Gibault Memorial patient tower Wednesday following nearly five years of planning and construction.

Hospital administrators hosted a ribbon cutting at 3:30 Wednesday afternoon. Hundreds showed up to watch the monumental occasion. Rob McLin, Good Samaritan CEO, stood next to hospital board member, Rowe Sargent as the two cut the ribbon to usher in the new era.

“This is just the culmination of being able to have a facility that provides the technology that compares with the people that we’ve got inside,” McLin stated.

The massive 200,000 sq. ft. patient tower will host 120 patient beds, as well as a new wing for prenatal and obstetrics care. It will also feature the likes of a cardiac catheterization laboratory and a clinical decision unit. The project, when originally announced, was expected to take approximately five years and cost around $100 million dollars, rolling out in 5 phases; giving the hospital a contemporary look.

“We’re now at a point where we’ve actually been able to open it up. We’ll start seeing our first patients coming through on the 24th of this month,” added McLin.

Patients will transition from the old tower on a rotation, McLin stated, with the first round being the intensive care unit. Administrators hope to have the majority of the patients moved in by August. From there, though, the work continues, director of engineering, Don Page explained.

“Once we get the patients moved, where the patients are currently located in the east tower, we’ll start a renovation phase there that will take place over the next 15-16 months,” Page said. Some of the old patient rooms will be remodeled and utilized as office space. Page, who has oversaw the entire project, noted its significance.

“Being able to say you’ve been a part of something of this magnitude is pretty rewarding,” Page said.

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