Speedy retrofit converts medical office building into behavioral health hospital that addresses mental health needs in Lake County, Illinois
Lake County, Illinois suffered from a severe shortage of behavioral health inpatient beds. A renovation and addition transform a 35-year-old medical office building into the 146-bed Lake Behavioral Hospital, the first facility of its kind in the region. The facility offers a full range of inpatient and outpatient options, ranging from youth and women’s programs to geriatric and psychiatric intensive care.
Floors two through four each have three day rooms surrounded by patient rooms. Brighter corridors contrast with the more restful grays and blues of the patient rooms. The facility also contains two outdoor courtyards, an exercise room, and a central dining room with a full-service kitchen.
Lake Behavioral Hospital not only responds to a regional need for mental health services but also jumpstarts a revitalization of the surrounding Waukegan area. The 88,000-square-foot hospital was designed in four and a half months and built in 13.
Like many projects, this was challenged by an uncompromising budget and timeframe, and it demanded a high degree of technical expertise. Legat demonstrated its ability to rise to each of these challenges while striking the right balance between design creativity and our overall expectations.
Miro Petrovic, Executive Vice President, US HealthVest
