East Lake Clinic - a department of Hennepin County Medical Center and Hennepin County Mental Health Clinic

A New Home to Serve the Community

When the building that originally housed the East Lake Clinic was damaged during unrest in summer of 2020, Hennepin Health needed to find a new home to serve the community. Hennepin County had space available in a recently built office building, a few blocks from the original site. The project became a collaboration between a primary care clinic for Hennepin Health and a mental health clinic run by the County.

The facility is a combination of a healthcare clinic, with 17 exam rooms, a procedure room, and a radiology room, along with 24 offices for mental health services.  Studies have shown a rise in the need for mental health services during the COVID pandemic and civil unrest, which this facility will address. The team dedicated themselves to making the mental and physical health programs work together in harmony through collaborative spaces that support resource sharing and patient care for the two practices.

Our research and work in designing pediatric spaces that are sensitive to neurological diversities as well as our strong history in behavioral health facilities supported many of the design decisions.  We found synergies in these approaches that guided us in our decision regarding patient and staff safety, nurturing and calming environments that were also inspiring and joyful. Providing positive distractions and strategically placing art or wayfinding aspects assists assists in memory recall for visitors who might feel more stressed upon arrival and offers them delight in their space and surroundings.

The ability for the client to recruit and retain staff, as well as avoid staff burnout, were key considerations. The existing spaces had little access to natural light or views of nature, and the workstations were bench-style with small desks. The team planned for staff seating to have optimal space on the floor plate with stand-to-sit desks and a shared large respite/lunch space on the third floor with natural light, many options for seating, and high-end finishes.

The most important, immediate impact of this project will be returning the clinical services to a neighborhood that lost them in the wake of the unrest. The collaborative nature of the project and the types of services and organization that come together in this space have the potential to help uplift the community.