Behavioral healthcare sector sees increase in construction, renovation

Anticipating an increase in patients in 2014 due to greater access to health insurance, behavioral health facility renovations and new construction are gaining speed, says an article in Behavioral Healthcare. The article highlights three recently completed behavioral health facility projects.

The University of Minnesota's Amplatz Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn., renovated its two-floor Pediatric Behavioral Inpatient Unit. Amenities include child-sized furnishings, rooms with selectable colored lights and built-in speakers, and a private area outside of each room where children can "de-escalate," the article says. The project created two 20-bed units and a new 12-bed intensive treatment unit.  

Also in Minnesota, Regions Hospital in St. Paul has built a $36 million eight-story replacement for an existing mental health building. Nearly doubling the old facility, the building has 100 private patient rooms. The facility features an activity room, a front porch and a resource center so families and patients can get educated about mental illnesses and available resources.

St. Luke's University Hospital in Bethlehem, Pa., created a geriatric behavioral health unit in order to have a separate area tailored to the needs of older patients. A former medical/surgical unit was renovated into 15 single-occupancy rooms featuring anti-ligature furnishings. A multi-purpose area on the unit supports dining, group therapy and social interaction.

Read the article.