Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Behavioral Health Services Center

A Multi-Generational Place for Behavioral Health Services

The Behavioral Health Services Center will replace and consolidate existing services on the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center campus that are currently located in three separate buildings into one facility. The newly expanded services will serve the behavioral health needs for the County of Santa Clara and the surrounding communities. The new space will be the first County-operated inpatient facility specifically for children and adolescents in need of behavioral health care and will include a separate floor for adults. The three-story, 207,000-square-foot healthcare destination will also provide space for the county to expand its services to meet the growing demand for high-quality behavioral healthcare for residents and surrounding communities.

Key spaces within the complex will include a 77-bed inpatient behavioral health hospital that will accommodate adults and minors on different floors, separate outpatient urgent care for minors and adults, emergency psychiatric services (EPS) with separate secured ambulance entry bays and treatment spaces for minors and adults, as well as a shared pharmacy. Additional spaces will include administrative offices, a pedestrian skyway bridge connecting to the existing emergency department and a new, 700-car parking structure.

HGA researchers engaged early in the process to set up a research platform to study the impact of improved patient privacy and access to outdoors on patient behavior and the need for restraint. Accordingly, the design of the new facility prioritizes connection to nature by including separate and distinct outdoor activity and recreation spaces for each inpatient unit as well as for Emergency Psychiatric Services. The project is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification upon completion and is one of the first psychiatric facilities in the State of California to be designed to a new State regulatory category, OSHPD 5, for Inpatient Behavioral Health.

Read full story about the groundbreaking here.