The VA’s new integrated clinic for mental health in Tampa, Fla., combines all behavioral health services the agency offers into one peaceful, warm and private clinic. The 144,000 square-foot, two-story facility houses a substance abuse and recovery center as well as a 60-bed mental health inpatient rehabilitation center. It also includes a residential treatment program that provides housing for homeless veterans.
Leo A Daly (Atlanta), a design that is rooted in trauma-informed treatment, aims to provide veterans with dignity, safety, and personal choice throughout their recovery process.
The clinic’s organization is based on integrating services across disciplines, and key adjacencies ease the transition from inpatient to outpatient programs. Security is placed at the center of the building, not at entrances. This allows for a non-institutional atmosphere, while still allowing visibility to clinical areas.
The building is organized around two inpatient wings on the first floor, which are centered around a central core. The west wing is occupied by the transitional housing program, which has a private entry to maintain the dignity and confidentiality of the veterans.
The east side is dedicated to psychosocial rehab and recovery, allowing access to the exterior. Veterans with substance abuse disorders are cared for in the center. Dual-diagnosis and dual-diagnosis patients can access services in the wings.
Second floor is where outpatient mental, PTSD and suicide prevention functions are located. Interdisciplinary teams provide whole-person care.
Interactions with nature are calming when interior finishes such as wood or biophilic designs, ample daylight and programmatic connections to exterior are used. Social skills are re-grown in communal spaces.
