Gresham Smith to Design New Behavioral Health Pavilion for Sarasota Memorial Hospital
Gresham Smith has been selected to design Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s new 82-bed, 95,000-square-foot Behavioral Health Pavilion on the hospital’s main campus in Sarasota, Florida. The state-of-the-art facility will replace the hospital’s aging 1970s-era facility across the street, centralizing and enhancing inpatient and outpatient care for people affected by mental and behavioral health challenges.
“Mental illness affects one in five Americans every year, and that number is likely increasing as a result of the global pandemic. It’s more important than ever that the right behavioral health services are available in the right place, at the right time,” said Orlando Lopez-Isa, AIA, LEED AP, Senior Vice President at Gresham Smith. “Our team is proud to partner with Sarasota Memorial to design a safe, therapeutic, healing environment that will provide both inpatient and outpatient services in one convenient location on the hospital’s main campus.”
The proposed pavilion will include four dedicated inpatient units: an 18-bed geriatric unit, a 20-bed acute care unit, a 22-bed adult unit and a 22-bed child and adolescent unit. The facility’s patient rooms, which are all private, will be designed promote healing, using lighting, acoustics and materials to reduce environmental stressors. The building’s proposed interior courtyard will provide a respite and connect patients to nature, while windows overlooking the courtyard will flood patient rooms with an abundance of daylight.
The pavilion’s separate outpatient area will centralize the hospital’s existing partial hospitalization program, intensive outpatient program, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and outpatient counseling services into one location. The new space will also house pharmacy, laboratory, food and nutrition, public safety, housekeeping and administrative services.
This project is a continuation of Gresham Smith’s more than 20-year relationship with Sarasota Memorial Hospital. The firm also designed the main campus’ nine-story patient tower, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation facility, 600-car parking garage, surgery department vertical expansion, and numerous renovations within the hospital itself.