The new £75 million Murray Royal Hospital was officially opened by First Minister Alex Salmond.
Completed last year, the development provides state-of-the-art mental health care for adults from across Tayside. It is also the firsthealthcare non-profit distributing project in Scotland and is part of a wider £845m programme.
Mr Salmond told The Courier that Murray Royal was “worth every penny”.
“Everybody should be proud of this,” he said.
“It’s not just the building we are investing in but also the staff and carers who commit themselves to helping people with mental illnesses.”
Commenting on the recent stories that have hit the headlines, regarding a patient going missing three times, he said there “can be no perfect security in any facility”.
Mr Salmond added: “This is a brilliant facility and I’ve heard some wonderful things from the staff. I’ve also been speaking to patients and residents and they are very enthusiastic as it is giving them hope of recovery.”
The First Minister was welcomed to the Perth site by NHS Tayside chairman Sandy Watson before being taken on an extensive tour.
He met staff and patients at Murray Royal, presenting them with two inspirational benches, which feature inscriptions from a well-known nurses’ prayer and an adaptation of a former patient’s poem.
As part of the tour, he also planted a Tree of Hope, before visiting several wards within the hospital.
The opening ceremony took place in the Pinel Day Hospital courtyard, where a timely gust of wind cemented the First Minister’s place in the history books for comic opening ceremonies.
Just as he finished praising members of staff at Murray Royal Hospital for ensuring he did not damage the building during the unveiling, a gazebo was blown over, narrowly missing the windows of the new multi-million-pound development.