Anne DiNardo

Jessica Welch’s college path was anything but clear. Having grown up in a family of doctors, she thought she’d follow them into the medical field. But when she started her studies, she didn’t enjoy the classes as much as she thought she would. She decided to change course and pursue a love for art instead by earning a degree in fine arts with a minor in architecture. For her next step, she wanted to “make a difference”—and considered joining organizations such as Teach for America and the Peace Corps before she started looking into graduate schools.

The evolution toward less institutionalized behavioral healthcare environments is also influencing the design of care spaces dedicated to younger populations. For starters, gone are the days when parents were locked out of a facility and permitted to see their child for only 20 minutes a day. Instead, today’s adolescent and children’s mental hospitals are welcoming parents in—and inviting them to stay.

In February 2014, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton opened the Margaret and Charles Juravinski Centre for Integrated Healthcare in Hamilton, Ontario. The project was impressive for its size alone, with 850,000 square feet and more than 300 psychiatric beds, as the provider brought all of its mental health and addiction services together under one roof in a modern and comfortable setting.