Construction kicked off recently on the Tampa General Health Behavioral Health Hospital, Florida’s first freestanding academic medical behavioral health hospital. The joint venture partnership between Tampa General (a 1,040-bed facility) and Lifepoint Behavioral Health will provide a full range of inpatient and outpatient care in specialized units for pediatrics, adolescents, adults, and geriatrics, and fills a glaring medical need in the area.
The four-story, 83,000-sf hospital will accommodate 96 to 120 inpatient beds. Services for patients with behavioral health issues that are compounded by other medical conditions will be provided in dedicated units.
The hospital will have close ties with Tampa General’s nationally recognized Neuroscience Institute, which provides a wide range of care to patients with neurological disorders. Medical students and resident physicians will receive training from faculty affiliated with University of South Florida (USF) Health Morsani College of Medicine.
“This new hospital will help raise the level of mental health care across the Tampa Bay area,” says Glenn Currier, MD, professor, and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. “A facility like this, dedicated to patients with behavioral and mental health conditions, especially those experiencing acute crises or complex conditions, will be an incredible asset. This specialized hospital will also ease the burden on area emergency rooms, which take in the bulk of psychiatric emergencies but have few options for the inpatient care that is so critical for successful management of many behavioral and mental health conditions.”
The conditions that will be treated at the facility are complex, but the structural concept is straightforward—a simple concrete foundation with a steel structure. The exterior will be composed of exterior insulation finishing system (EIFS), masonry, metal wall panels, and large curtainwall window systems spanning multiple floors. Materials and colors will complement Tampa General Hospital’s existing network of buildings on the campus and throughout the city. A thin brick/masonry veneer engineered system (MVES) will be installed using pre-fabricated wall panels.
Located in downtown Tampa, adjacent to a new Tampa General Rehabilitation Hospital, TGH Behavioral Health Hospital will bolster Tampa’s burgeoning medical district. The facility is expected to open in late 2024.
The facility was made possible, in part, by funding from the state of Florida to address the state's growing mental health crisis. This past legislative session, Senator Jay Collins and Representative Lawrence McClure secured $10 million in the state budget to support the construction of the TGH Behavioral Health Hospital, according to TGH.
Owner and/or developer: Tampa General Hospital
Design architect: Stengel Hill Architecture
Architect of record: Stengel Hill Architecture
MEP engineer: CMTA, Inc.
Structural engineer: Skyhook Structural Engineering
General contractor/construction manager: JE Dunn Construction
Related Stories
| Dec 13, 2013
Safe and sound: 10 solutions for fire and life safety
From a dual fire-CO detector to an aspiration-sensing fire alarm, BD+C editors present a roundup of new fire and life safety products and technologies.
| Dec 10, 2013
16 great solutions for architects, engineers, and contractors
From a crowd-funded smart shovel to a why-didn’t-someone-do-this-sooner scheme for managing traffic in public restrooms, these ideas are noteworthy for creative problem-solving. Here are some of the most intriguing innovations the BD+C community has brought to our attention this year.
| Dec 10, 2013
Modular Pedia-Pod: Sustainability in healthcare construction [slideshow]
Greenbuild 2013 in Philadelphia was the site of a unique display—Pedia-Pod, a modular pediatric treatment room designed and built by NRB, in collaboration with the editors of Building Design+Construction, SGC Horizon LLC, and their team of medical design consultants.
| Dec 3, 2013
Creating a healthcare capital project plan: The truth behind the numbers
When setting up a capital project plan, it's one thing to have the data, but quite another to have the knowledge of the process.
| Nov 27, 2013
Pediatric hospitals improve care with flexible, age-sensitive design
Pediatric hospitals face many of the same concerns as their adult counterparts. Inpatient bed demand is declining, outpatient visits are soaring, and there is a higher level of focus on prevention and reduced readmissions.
| Nov 27, 2013
Exclusive survey: Revenues increased at nearly half of AEC firms in 2013
Forty-six percent of the respondents to an exclusive BD+C survey of AEC professionals reported that revenues had increased this year compared to 2012, with another 24.2% saying cash flow had stayed the same.
| Nov 27, 2013
Wonder walls: 13 choices for the building envelope
BD+C editors present a roundup of the latest technologies and applications in exterior wall systems, from a tapered metal wall installation in Oklahoma to a textured precast concrete solution in North Carolina.
| Nov 27, 2013
LEED for Healthcare offers new paths to green
LEED for Healthcare debuted in spring 2011, and certifications are now beginning to roll in. They include the new Puyallup (Wash.) Medical Center and the W.H. and Elaine McCarty South Tower at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas in Austin.
| Nov 26, 2013
Construction costs rise for 22nd straight month in November
Construction costs in North America rose for the 22nd consecutive month in November as labor costs continued to increase, amid growing industry concern over the tight availability of skilled workers.
| Nov 25, 2013
Building Teams need to help owners avoid 'operational stray'
"Operational stray" occurs when a building’s MEP systems don’t work the way they should. Even the most well-designed and constructed building can stray from perfection—and that can cost the owner a ton in unnecessary utility costs. But help is on the way.
