Bradley Hospital last week opened a new, 60-bed, 44,000-square-foot inpatient facility on its East Providence campus, just a year after breaking ground on the project.
The new building is the first step in a $31.1 million, multi-phase renovation and expansion of Bradley, the nation’s oldest psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents and a teaching hospital for The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
The entire project is scheduled to be complete this fall.
The new building more than triples the inpatient space and allows all youngsters to have private rooms. The previous inpatient section, in the 78-year-old Laufer Building, had semi-private rooms, which were considered less than ideal.
The 60 rooms in the new facility are arranged in small, quiet “pods” that provide more privacy for patients and their families, enable staff to closely monitor and respond to patients, and allows more flexibility in admitting patients.
“This modern facility will enhance the world-class, cutting-edge clinical care that Bradley Hospital has been providing for nearly 80 years, while also allowing for the expansion and exploration of new approaches and treatments in child and adolescent psychiatry,” said Daniel J. Wall, president and CEO, in a news release. “This is an exciting day for the entire Bradley Hospital family.”
The new building houses the inpatient programs for children between the ages of 2 and 18 who suffer from serious disorders and are in need of short-term stabilization, assessment and treatment. In addition, the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities (CADD), an inpatient service for children with serious behavioral disorders in addition to a developmental disability, has been moved to the new facility.
The children’s inpatient program and CADD share the first floor, with each unit serving 15 patients each. The second floor is occupied by the adolescent inpatient program, which has been expanded from 20 to 30 beds to meet a growing demand for services.
Every detail in the design was based on input from doctors, nurses and parents, said Dr. Henry T. Sachs, medical director for the hospital All inpatient units are decorated in shades of yellow, blue and green to reflect the theme of “Rhode Island: The Ocean State.” There are also common areas and sun rooms with views of Narragansett Bay, as well as an enclosed central courtyard and gazebo for children to enjoy the outdoors and visit with their families.
The project will now enter its second phase, the renovation of the Laufer Building to accommodate expanded outpatient and partial-hospitalization (day) programs as well as allow for more research initiatives on the hospital campus.
The final phase of the project will involve renovating the Swan House building for the Children’s Residential and Family Treatment program, a residential program for children ages 4 to 12 who do not require inpatient care but cannot yet live with their families.
To help support the project, Bradley is aiming to raise $7.5 million through a campaign called “Uniquely Bradley: Advancing Children’s Mental Health.” About $4.5 million has been raised to date, hospital officials said, from corporations, foundations and individuals.
The architect for the new building was S/L/A/M Collaborative, with Providence-based Gilbane Building Inc. providing construction management services.
Bradley Hospital, founded in 1931 as the Emma Pendleton Bradley Home, was the nation’s first psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents and isa teaching partner of Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School. It is a member of the nonprofit Lifespan health care system, along with The Miriam, Newport and Rhode Island and Hasbro Children’s hospitals. To learn more, visit www.lifespan.org/bradley.
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