Rutland Regional Medical Center
Psychiatric Services Adult Inpatient Unit

Healthcare:
Behavioral Health

To meet the needs of the greater Rutland, VT community, the Rutland Regional Medical Center (RRMC) planned renovations of their adult Psychiatric Services Inpatient Unit. The previous unit was challenged by semi-private rooms that hindered the number and type of patients that could be admitted, combined with inefficient staff support space, which created challenges for safety and security as well as staff frustration. In addition to addressing program needs, the hospital wanted to be prepared for more stringent anti-ligature and safety requirements that were recently added. Our risk assessment team toured the site and provided a list of recommendations, including items of high priority and those that would be considered best practice improvements.

Working closely with RRMC administration and clinical staff, Lavallee Brensinger Architects developed a redesign plan that was both therapeutic and marketable and would address concerns observed during risk assessment. The over sized semi-private rooms were converted into private rooms with private bathrooms. The nurses station was relocated to improve “line of sight.” The adjacent orthopedic administrative area was relocated to allow for non-treatment functions to be accommodated off the unit, freeing up space on the unit to create two community areas of differencing acuity, each with their own on-unit dining and activity spaces.

The hospital wanted to limit the number of beds that would be taken off-line during construction. In order to accommodate this need, the first phase of construction was the addition of several new private bedrooms allowing for the shifting of patients to free up square footage and allowing the unit to remain operational during construction.