The Badenoch & Strathspey Community Hospital is a new-build facility that opened in September 2021, combining patients from the Ian Charles Community Hospital in Grantown and St Vincents Hospital in Kingussie. In December 202, I was invited, along with other public health staff, to visit the new facility.
I am local resident, and someone who had visited the original St Vincents hospital a lot, both as a child volunteer and later to visit my mother who was a regular in-patient. I have fond memories of the former hospital which sat in the most beautiful woodland and had a great outlook on to nature. I was therefore keen to see how the new facility measured up. The therapeutic benefits of the use of nature in the recovery of patients has been well documented and I was interested in how nature had been incorporated in to the design of the new hospital.
The first thing that struck me when stepping in to the reception area at the new Aviemore facility (which is also the GP waiting room) was the amount of natural light flooding the space and the enormous wall-sized painting by local artist Rona Kant. It is spacious, airy and bright and a marked improvement on the former waiting space of the old GP surgery. Throughout the building there are examples of artwork from local artists and photographers which help to make the place feel positive. Even the dividing screens have elements of nature in them. All tailored to local landscapes and wildlife.
The building itself had been erected on an area of disused land nestled between the main Inverness-Perth railway line and the Strathspey Steam railway. So as a local resident it is great to see this space finally being used and for a good purpose. Those sitting on the east side of the building get regular views of the steam train as it passes and of the Cairngorms beyond. Those facing West have uninterrupted views of Craigellachie National Nature Reserve. Even the kitchen staff have been awarded a view from where they prepare their food.
From the reception area you can see the new therapy Garden that adjoins the hospital and is being managed and maintained through Badenoch & Strathspey Therapy Gardens. In the springtime they hope to work with patients and referrals from the GP practice.
There are covered outdoor seating areas for both staff and patients to enjoy and there is a large outdoor seating area with bird feeders that can be entered from the patient common area. Courtyards with floor to ceiling windows help to provide natural light to the corridors and also shelter from the wind for those blustery days. And while the sun rarely sets in the summer months the designers have thought of this with the addition of black-out blinds for patient windows.
The site is very new but it is going to be interesting to see how the landscape transforms over the summer months and how the space surrounding the hospital is used. There is even a small area of that space that could lend itself to a short wildlife garden walk to the rear.
All in all I think my mum would be very content to come and stay here and it is certainly a more pleasant place to come as a visitor too.
Author: Ailsa Villegas, Senior Development Officer, Green Health, NHS Highland