Designing a Place of Sanctuary for Behavioral Health Inpatients & Staff

Jim Hunt – BHFC, Robyn Lindstrom – Davis Partnership, Kim Boe – West Springs Hospital:

Healthcare Design Expo and Conference:

New Orleans, LA – November 3, 2019

West Springs hospital, in Grand Junction Colorado embarked on a journey to continue providing state of the art inpatient psychiatric care by engaging in a campaign – Building Sanctuary | Rebuilding Lives. The campaign set in motion a journey to build a new 64 bed replacement facility with the primary goal of creating an environment that comforts patients and allows them to be receptive to receiving treatment.

The task of combining both a calming, non-threatening environment with a high level of safety for both patients and staff into one successful facility has been accomplished. With occupancy in late 2018, the combination of a dedicated client with a clear vision and a highly creative design team have created a facility that is proving to meet all goals.  Convinced the built environment for behavioral health can be less institutional, the team combined creative uses of technology such as therapeutic color lighting, an abundance of natural light, direct access to courtyards and off unit activity areas in the completed project. The implemented color pallets, furnishings and artwork all combine to integrate the principles gleaned from the focus groups of former patients, community and staff from all departments. Data from the post occupancy evaluation study will be presented.