Healthcare Facilities Committee: Behavioral Health Delivery in the Crisis Mode: Case Study of the Short Stay Unit at Butler Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island (Hybrid)

Event Description

Behavioral health crisis in the United States has created unique challenges for the design and construction industry. The “speed to market” demand on beds delivery is unprecedented. We will present an innovative, collaborative process of designing and building the new short stay unit at Butler Hospital in Providence, RI.

We will discuss the tools of the Lean process that allowed us to compress the design schedule and streamline traditional phasing. We will explore the operational approach to the design of an inpatient behavioral health unit at Butler Hospital, and the resulting innovative planning solutions. We will review some of the challenges faced, solutions implemented, and the vital importance of the close collaboration of all stakeholders to ensure the speedy delivery of this milestone project for the State of Rhode Island.

Presenters

Brian McKenna, AIA | CannonDesign

With over 25 years of experience in programming, planning, and designing various healthcare facilities, Brian has focused his professional career on this typology. From leading focus groups and workshops in the early programming stages to opening day, Brian uses his strong communication skills to build consensus and drive decision making. His experience includes the delivery of small to large projects through traditional delivery methods as well as design assist, target value delivery, and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). From Free Standing facilities to major campus renovations and redevelopments, Brian’s “listen first” style provides direction and assures project success.

Armand Damari AIA, NCARB | CannonDesign

Armand is a Project Architect on healthcare and education projects. His favorite part of the job is learning and understanding what makes each project and client unique, even if it’s within a typology that seems fairly straight-forward or restrictive. He enjoys trying to demonstrate the unique personality in a project’s design and exploring solutions to complex issues that are informed by an interesting client goal or site constraint.