Lighting Enhances Hospital’s Short Stay Unit

Rhode Island-based Butler Hospital, a member of Care New England, is the only private, nonprofit psychiatric and substance abuse hospital serving adults, seniors, and adolescents in Rhode Island and southeastern New England. Founded in 1844, it was the first hospital in Rhode Island and has earned a reputation as the leading provider of innovative psychiatric treatments in the region.

Butler Hospital wanted to expand their ability to treat multiple patient populations in need of mental health treatment, helping to alleviate overcrowded emergency departments at local hospitals. Fortunately, the second floor of the Riverview Building on their Providence, Rhode Island campus was the ideal location for a 25-bed, short-stay unit.

The unit features a flexible pod system, which can accommodate demands to flex up or down beds, provide isolation rooms, and treat various adult populations to ensure the system remains flexible and nimble. According to the architect, the flexible pod system allows the hospital to provide varying levels of care or patient population (male, female etc.). With the flexible pod system, a unit can have up to three populations of patients, or a larger amount of one population. 

The short stay unit enhances Butler’s ability to provide timely and effective care to individuals experiencing acute mental health challenges.

Renovations for the new unit were made possible through a $4 million earmark that Senators Reed and Whitehouse secured in the Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations law, along with $8 million in federal funds that were allocated through the State Fiscal Recovery Fund (SFRF). Governor Daniel McKee and the General Assembly allocated $8 million of these federal SFRF funds for the project in the state’s 2023 budget. 

“Nationwide, hospitals are seeing more emergency room visits that are mental- and behavioral health-related and they need to be equipped to respond effectively.  Nobody should have to wait for days in crisis in an emergency room. This new short-stay unit will ensure patients who require mental health support can get the medical treatment they need in a safe, therapeutic, appropriate environment,” commented US Senator Jack Reed.

Behavioral Health Lighting

Because many healthcare facilities contain patient rooms specifically designed for patients exhibiting unpredictable and sometimes destructive behavior, anti‑ligature lighting design removes hard edges and corners from the design, thereby reducing the opportunity for self-harm. Lighting for these spaces must be sufficiently robust to withstand abuse, while still providing maximum visibility, wayfinding, glare reduction, and the use of controls to support mental health and wellness. Tamper proof light fixtures are also recommended to ensure the safety and security of patients and staff alike.

Knowing the importance lighting plays in behavioral health settings, the Senior Director of Facilities, Jim Carroll, consulted the Patient Safety Standards Guidelines of the New York State Office of Mental Health prior to specifying lighting for the new facility. The Patient Safety Standards, Materials, and Systems Guidelines is a reference for approved manufacturers’ ligature-resistant products that help lower patient risk while in an inpatient psychiatric unit. Based on these guidelines and working in tandem with the project’s architectural firm, CannonDesign, Carroll selected Kenall Manufacturing’s MedMaster BHRT, which meets the patient safety standards of the New York State Office of Mental Health for use in behavioral health settings.

Because the fixtures feature continuous lens retention and tamper-resistant fasteners for ligature prevention, they are installed in every patient room. The luminaires are dimmable and include a five-setting control system to optimize patient comfort. Tunable white technology enables the user to independently control both color temperature and intensity of light within a given application, providing the ability to change the color of light from warm to neutral to cool in appearance. This color-tuning helps promote normal sleep/wake cycles, and since Kenall luminaires are controls agnostic, they easily integrate with Butler Hospital’s designated control system.

In addition to the patient rooms, the BHRT 24″-round luminaires are installed in the hallways, common areas, and group therapy rooms to provide a calming ambiance and set the scene for healing. Additionally, Kenall’s 2×2 ceiling fixtures are installed in the facility’s patient observation areas.  

“Patients are the Hospital’s highest priority and Kenall’s lights throughout the facility support an environment for healing,” commented Carroll. “Kenall’s long-standing reputation with the Patient Safety Standards, Materials, and Systems Guidelines, and as an industry leader in high-abuse fixtures, made selecting their luminaires an easy decision,” Carroll added.

Project Team

Architect: CannonDesign

Engineers: BR+A

General Contractor: DPR Construction

Patient rooms/other interior lighting: Kenall Manufacturing

Photo Credit: Bjorg Magnea