Sierra Vista Hospital

Creating an Environment Centered Around Patient Transition

Sierra Vista Hospital is the leading inpatient psychiatric treatment facility in the Sacramento area. The 19,300 SF, 48-bed addition to the existing 72-bed acute-care psychiatric hospital provides a safe, therapeutic environment that enhances patient recovery, provides crisis stabilization, and assists patients’ transition to a community-based care level.

This full-service mental health facility is a center of support for patients and their families. HGA expanded its bed capacity to create an environment centered around their patients. Our design focused on creating the best possible relationships among functional spaces, and excellent sight lines from the nurses’ station to all patient areas. The design maximizes observation and staff/patient interaction with a large, visually open nurse station at the apex of the bed unit plan.

We selected special products for the stringent requirements of the psychiatric facility and took extra measures to provide for the safety and welfare of the staff and patients. While there was a clinical need to create a homelike environment, the architectural character was more public than private, and less clinical than a traditional medical treatment facility. We struck the right balance by contrasting the scale and character of the common spaces in the bed unit with the smaller, more private spaces, like the bedrooms and consult rooms. The common areas in the bed units and the staff work areas in the nursing core have open ceilings under a large, sheltering roof. Patient recovery and staff performance are enhanced through natural light. Clearstory windows and discrete skylights brighten inner rooms and corridors, while the color scheme provides a warm and calming environment for patients and staff.