It’s always nice to have a reminder of why the time- and cost-intensive planning, design, and construction of our healthcare facilities mean so much. The team building the new Golisano Children’s Hospital in Rochester, N.Y., had that opportunity last week.

The hospital, which will open in 2015, celebrated the project milestone of final steel beams being put into place. To mark the event, inpatients and outpatients were invited to decorate one of those beams with their signatures as well as their tiny handprints and footprints, working on the beam just outside the construction site so workers could have a view of the festivities.

The new $145 million tower being built on the campus of University of Rochester Medical Center will include eight floors, 245,000 square feet, all private rooms, and an expanded neonatal intensive care unit. The team includes LeChase Construction (Rochester, N.Y.) and architect Ballinger (Philadelphia).

The decorated beam will be placed in a public area for easy viewing. For a heartwarming reminder of the patients and families inspiring the facilities we build, take a look at video of the event here.