From the moment patients, visitors and staff step into the entry of Avera Behavioral Health Center, the health care facility breaks any stereotypes people have about mental health treatment. Daylight streams through glass in the spacious 5,500 s.f., two-story light court, calming and reducing anxiety of entering a behavioral hospital. The colored and glass walls, a water feature, and a meditation room in the light court enhance the initial experience and provide a quiet area for decompression after patients leave outpatient clinics in the attached medical office building.

Rooms bordered by an innovative double-corridor system replace the traditional locked-door entrance to inpatient space, yet raise the level of privacy and security for patients by separating their space from public and support spaces. These rooms, used for family visitation and physician consultation, establish a new protocol for dignity and confidentiality, eliminating the negative and often frightening experience of passing through locked doors. The first new freestanding treatment facility of its kind west of the Mississippi River since 1991, Avera Behavioral Health Center brings desperately needed services for pediatrics, adolescence, adult and geriatrics in a respectful and safe environment.