A local mental health advocate says she was overwhelmed with the difference between the new mental health facility compared to the old Waterford Hospital.

Kristi Allen, who has been advocating for improved mental health access and facilities for some time, got a recent tour of the new facility adjacent to the Health Sciences.

She says the difference between the two facilities was like night and day.

“It didn’t even feel real,” says Allen, “because if you have been into the Waterford, you know how dark it is, you know the feeling you get in the pit of your stomach, and to look up, and see this beautiful piece of art, and everything is clean and everything is bright, and just think…this is the new one.”

The new facility is on schedule to open to patients in April.