The mint-green sedan was the first thing you noticed inside the inpatient therapy gym at the Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation. Parked facing a window, with its engine compartment chopped off, the 1978 Pontiac with matching-green vinyl interior looked a bit alien next to the treadmill and staircases – but all are tools that help patients reacquaint themselves with the outside world.
While that car served Siskin Hospital for the past 26 years, Volkswagen Chattanooga thought it could help patients work with a more modern vehicle, by donating a 2016 Chattanooga-built Passat sedan to replace the old sedan in Siskin Hospital’s gym.