During its annual meeting, the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems recognized the contributions of James Hunt, AIA, NCARB, and David Sine, ARM, CSP, CPHRM, with a 2013 Leadership Award for Quality.

The award acknowledges the positive impact of their publication, the Design Guide for the Built Environment of Behavioral Health Facilities, now celebrating 10 years in print. The Guide is a valuable resource for architects, designers, administrators and patient care staff working in the field of mental health treatment. The Guide helps identify patient safety hazards related to the selection and installation of furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) in behavioral health facilities.

In the one-of-a-kind Guide, Hunt and Sine list specific items and manufacturers (with model numbers and photographs), and explain why hundreds of products – from beds to shower seats, are appropriate for use in the behavioral healthcare setting. The latest edition of the Guide – 6.0, was published earlier this year.

James Hunt and David Sine accepted the award from Mark Covall, President and CEO of NAPHS during a luncheon in their honor. Sine shared with the audience the back-story of how the Design Guide began. “We were two guys responsible for building and running behavioral health hospitals, who got together and said, ‘We ought to write all of this stuff down.’”

Please share this information with others who may be interested in behavioral health facility design.