Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Services Hospital

The only state-owned and -operated facility of its type in Minnesota. The hospital is designed for Minnesota children 4 to 18 years of age who have complex mental illness and behavioral disorders that are so severe the children cannot be treated in their home communities. The $10 million, 18,000-square-foot facility, located on a nine-acre parcel, features three wings and 16 private patient rooms, each with its own bathroom.

The open floor plan creates space for one-on-one therapy sessions, group sessions, a spacious gathering area next to the nurses’ station and quiet nooks and window seats for patients to have alone time. The space is “kid friendly” and “almost whimsical” with different colors. There is an area where families can spend time with their children and two outdoor courtyards for monitored play.

The hospital was previously located on the MinnWest Technology Campus in Willmar in a building that was described as “antiquated” and not designed to deliver the type of therapeutic care the patients need.

Medical director Eve Berryhill, who is also a child and adolescent psychiatrist, said the old facility was loud and “echoey” and easily agitated kids. She said the space did not feel therapeutic and led some kids to believe they could not “get better” there.

Sambatek provided civil engineering, stormwater management design, site design, and landscape architecture for this unique project. 

Owner: Minnesota Department of Human Services

Contractor: Knutson Construction

Architect: Mohagen Hansen Architecture | Interiors

Engineer: Sambatek, Dunham Associates

Size: 18,000 SF

Awards: Finance & Commerce Top Projects 2020; 2020 MN Physicians Magazine Honor Roll Award