The Magnolia Ridge Care and Rehabilitation Center held the grand opening for their renovated facility and brand new “therapy gym” on Thursday.

The therapy gym is designed to help patients return to as normal a life as possible.

“I think it means something great,” said Jathan Aaron, a therapist at the center. “I’ve been working in therapy almost 10 years, and I’ve been in over 17 facilities, and this one is easily at the top of the list.”

One room at the facility is a fully functional bathroom and laundry room, complete with a real, working shower, sink toilet, washer and dryer.

“It resembles what they’re going home to,” said Magnolia Ridge Admissions Coordinator Cyndi Edwards.

Another room is dedicated to speech therapy, which helps patients, usually stroke victims, who have trouble communicating because of brain damage.

“Therapy helps patients who have trouble with speech, and it can also help treat dementia, memory loss, or cognition problems,” said Leslie Osborn, a speech therapist at the center. She also said patients can sometimes have trouble swallowing, and speech therapy can help with that, as well.

The facility also has seven pieces of new exercise equipment.

In addition to the therapy gym, the nearly $3 million project included a renovation of the center’s 48-bed Rehab Recovery Suites  unit. Twenty-eight of those beds are in private rooms.

“We’ve made them feel like home so that they feel less industrial,” said Edwards. “Obviously, this is not the norm in the industry.”

Edwards said the center practices “functional maintenance,” which allows residents to take a part in the upkeep of the facility, including planting flowers and other foliage. Edwards said the center tries to include as many of the residents’ hobbies in the program as possible.