Side Notes: Creating Connection, Whimsy, and Hope at the Pediatric Center of Behavioral Health

For families seeking behavioral health care for their child, the process can feel confusing, disjointed, or even scary. When diving into the planning process for the Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services’ Pediatric Center of Behavioral Health, the team approached each design decision with a different goal: creating an experience rooted in clarity, connection, and comfort from the moment families arrive.

Melanie Baumhover, BWBR Principal, Director, and Behavioral + Mental Health Market Leader, joined us to discuss the recently completed project and how its “no wrong door” model is improving access to care for families in Michigan and beyond.

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Transcript

Quick Welcome And Setup

Matt Gerstner 0:00

Welcome to Side Notes, the bite-sized version of Side of Design. In 15 minutes or less, we'll explore one idea, one insight, or one conversation worth hearing. Let's get to it. Welcome to Side Notes, the bite-sized version of Side of Design. I'm your host, Matt Gerstner. Joining me today is Melanie Baumhover, principal and director with BWBR from our St. Paul, Minnesota office. And I'm looking forward to our conversation today because we are going to talk about her team's recently completed project, Pine Rest Pediatric Center of Behavioral Health. Melanie, thanks for joining me.

Melanie Baumhover 0:32

Thanks for having me.

Matt Gerstner 0:33

All

The No Wrong Door Model

Matt Gerstner 0:34

right. So on our side notes podcast, we don't waste any time. We get right into the meat of the questions. And I'm going to start by asking what to you is most interesting or exciting about this particular project of yours?

Melanie Baumhover 0:46

So this project, Pine Rest, started with the goal of improving access to mental and behavioral health care for kids and their families.

Matt Gerstner 0:55

Okay.

Melanie Baumhover 0:55

And they wanted to do that through a no-wrongdoor process. So that means however they enter into the building or the process, whoever is there will catch them and gently direct them to whatever service they have. And how that manifests in the building is we have a ton of services for kids and families.

Matt Gerstner 1:16

Okay.

Melanie Baumhover 1:16

We have urgent care, we have inpatient standard and specialty beds, we have outpatient, partial hospitalization, and psych testing all together under one roof, as well as some family services.

Matt Gerstner 1:30

Okay.

Melanie Baumhover 1:31

So when patients and their families come to the building, they come here for lots of different services. And the goal is that they are they're received and disseminated through the system. And the mental and behavioral health system is really confusing.

Matt Gerstner 1:47

Right.

Melanie Baumhover 1:47

So if you don't work in the system trying to figure out where you go and being told, no, that's not where you go, you go over here, you go over there, it was really challenging. And so not just within the building, but Pine Rest also between their programs has worked really hard to connect those programs.

Matt Gerstner 2:04

Okay.

Melanie Baumhover 2:04

Again, to facilitate any handoffs.

Matt Gerstner 2:06

Yeah.

Melanie Baumhover 2:07

They're what they call warm handoffs between programs, but also within the community. So they don't have every program within the continuum, but they know where to direct families when they do need help. The answer is not not here, it is let me tell you where to go.

Matt Gerstner 2:23

That's fantastic. I like that. No wrong doors. That's that's an interesting concept. That's very cool. So when you're thinking about the project now, uh what's one of the details about it that you love or maybe reflects like the care and creativity that was put into the project?

Treehouse Theme And Kid Joy

Melanie Baumhover 2:41

So I think it's not fair to say one detail.

Matt Gerstner 2:43

I know, I know.

Melanie Baumhover 2:44

It's not nice. So one of the things that we wanted to implement is a treehouse theme.

Matt Gerstner 2:50

Okay.

Melanie Baumhover 2:50

So tree houses are very kid-centric, they're whimsical, they're fun, they bring access to nature.

Matt Gerstner 2:56

Yeah.

Melanie Baumhover 2:57

And so our treehouse theme is throughout the building. And that means within our inpatient units, we wanted to prioritize safe outdoor play space for every unit. So you can go directly from your unit to the outside. That is your dedicated space on that unit. Um, in the front of the building, there's pocket parks. There's so there's a place for staff to be outside. There's a place if you're bringing a kid to urgent care, you can wait outside in the pocket park or play. If you're going to outpatient services, you can play in the pocket park to what they call get the wiggles out.

Matt Gerstner 3:29

Yeah. Yeah.

Melanie Baumhover 3:30

But the most fun, so we have our outpatient services on the second floor.

Matt Gerstner 3:35

Okay.

Melanie Baumhover 3:36

And kids have the option of a fun exit. We added a slide.

Matt Gerstner 3:40

Oh!

Melanie Baumhover 3:41

So you don't have to take the stairs or the elevator. If kids want to, they can take the slide down. So even if they're there for a long day of partial hospitalization or some psych testing, they can choose that fun exit. And it doesn't all have to be heavy. Sometimes mental and behavioral health visits can feel really heavy.

Matt Gerstner 4:00

Oh, for sure, for sure.

Melanie Baumhover 4:01

But they're still kids. We still want them to have that joy and that whimsy. And the slide is is one way that we took that treehouse theme and that put that whimsy into the building.

Matt Gerstner 4:12

I love that. That is yeah, that that that's a fun, fun design element that's that's put in there. And it's that carry-through, right? Of the the treehouse theme and having the slide coming down. That's that's fantastic.

Melanie Baumhover 4:24

Y eah, we love it.

Matt Gerstner 4:25

Okay. So now thinking about the entire process of this project, what was a challenge that you and the team maybe had to overcome?

Building Big Impact On Tight Budget

Melanie Baumhover 4:34

So this is not a unique challenge to us.

Matt Gerstner 4:37

Right.

Melanie Baumhover 4:37

But mental and behavioral health facilities are perpetually short on cash, right? And when you're building for mental and behavioral health, budgets are always tight. This was no exception. Pine Rest only serves mental and behavioral health patients.

Matt Gerstner 4:56

Okay.

Melanie Baumhover 4:56

Whereas a hospital, they can pull funds from different departments and support whichever department needs the funding at this moment. Pine Rest only has mental and behavioral health services. And when we compare our cost per square foot for our new building to other projects that we know were happening across the country at the same time, in some cases, we had half the cost per square foot in order to develop this building. Oh, wow. And how we were able to still make it successful is teaming with our contractor partner. So EV Construction was our construction partner. They were on early helping us think of ideas, evaluate options, and really look at ways that we can prioritize the needs of kids and family and what things could we compromise on.

Matt Gerstner 5:46

Right.

Melanie Baumhover 5:47

And Pine Rest had their team, they were really clear about what their priorities were.

Matt Gerstner 5:52

Okay, which is good.

Melanie Baumhover 5:53

Yeah. And the the BWBR team, we just ran through the details and made sure that we brought forth the vision with care. And so the three of us entities working together were really able to bring that care into the facility and into the project on a really tight budget.

Matt Gerstner 6:11

That's fantastic because I don't think enough people realize how much architects have to be good stewards of our clients' finances, you know, trying to make the best opportunity for them with what's available.

Melanie Baumhover 6:27

Yeah.

Matt Gerstner 6:28

That's fantastic. I really like that. And I've seen the preview pictures, so I know it turned out well.

Melanie Baumhover 6:33

Yeah, it's fantastic. We're so excited.

Matt Gerstner 6:35

Oh, for sure. So looking looking to the future

Long-Term Impact For Kids

Matt Gerstner 6:38

now. Uh I mean, this sounds like it's a really important facility in this community. So what kind of long-term impacts do you feel this project might have?

Melanie Baumhover 6:50

This project will be successful when kids have shorter wait time for services, when they're able to access care and they feel the whimsy and the care and the support within the building, within the staff, at every turn. And so it's really just the impact to kids and the families and their ability to access care while feeling loved and supported.

Matt Gerstner 7:20

I don't think you could say anything better about a project, right? Y eah. That's that's great. All right. And now we're gonna look all the way back at the entire process and the results that we were able to achieve from this.

Ownership And Care In Design

Matt Gerstner 7:31

What's one aspect of the project that you think you will carry forward in your work or maybe in the way you approach design?

Melanie Baumhover 7:40

So I've been doing this a long time.

Matt Gerstner 7:43

Yeah.

Melanie Baumhover 7:44

And every project I've ever touched in my career feels like mine, right? And it's not mine as an individual, it's mine and it's yours, and it's all of our team members who touch it. It is our project collectively.

Matt Gerstner 7:57

Right. We feel ownership of what we do.

Melanie Baumhover 7:59

And and through that ownership, I think we bring a sense of care and support to the mission of our clients, which I think is critical in the success of this project and all of our projects. It is that personalization that this isn't just a thing that I do. It is it is personal. So bringing that personal attention, bringing that personal care from every member of our team into our work is what we owe our clients who are giving us the opportunity to understand what their needs are and help them to move forward into their future.

Closing And Website Invite

Matt Gerstner 8:39

Yeah. Well, you've answered all my questions for you. Thank you for making time to be here today. You've given some great information on this absolutely fantastic project. So check it out on our website if you get the opportunity to. And thank you to all of our listeners for tuning in. And thank you, Melanie, for being here today.