SSM Health Saint Louis (Mo.) University Hospital recently opened a new behavioral health inpatient unit. Located on the fifth floor of the hospital’s Bordley Tower, the nearly 27,000-square-foot space once housed medical-surgical and intensive care units but now has been transformed into a setting that combines safety and a community-minded focus to provide therapeutic healing.
The architecture firm Lawrence Group designed a pod system layout for the space consisting of four pods of ten to 11 patient rooms each. The pods are supported by a shared core space equipped with laundry, staff break rooms and restrooms, nourishment areas and staff workspaces.
The nurses stations are strategically located for visibility across each wing but also to provide separation. The stations feature laminated safety glass and vertical aluminum stanchions to create a protective space where health care workers can complete charting activities and prepare medications…