New Security Features Unveiled for New Hawai‘i State Hospital Building

Governor David Ige and the Hawai‘i Department of Health today unveiled the security features for a new, $140 million, state-of-the-art Hawai‘i State Hospital building to enhance the safety of patients, employees and the community.

The multi-story, 144-bed forensic psychiatric facility will be built on the upper campus of Hawai‘i State Hospital in Kaneohe, replacing the 70-year-old Goddard Building that was demolished in 2016.

Hensel Phelps, the contractor selected for the project, and its subcontractors have incorporated clinical best practices into the physical design of the new building to create a modern therapeutic environment for the growing number of forensic patients who are admitted to the hospital by court orders.

In addition to patient care units, the170,000 square feet of space will include a comprehensive rehabilitation mall, admissions and transfer suite offices, enclosed outdoor yards and more.

Preliminary site work for the new building is scheduled to begin in August 2018. The design and construction of the new building were originally estimated to take a total of eight years, but Gov. Ige, working in collaboration with the Hawai‘i Department of Health and Department of Accounting and General Services, chose a design-build approach to streamline the construction timeline. The construction phase is estimated to take about three years, and patients and staff expected to occupy the new building in 2021.

Security features of the new building include:

Patient unit designs that provide nurse station staff unobstructed visibility of all patient activity areas.

Nurse station and support spaces that are connected between two patient units, allowing staff to share support spaces and provide emergency response.

A dining room designed to draw patients out of their rooms, preventing isolation and promoting community involvement. The bright open space provides patients with a view and easy access to controlled outdoor areas for views of nature.
The location of a rehabilitation mall staff station maximizes observation and ability to manage patient activities along the mall and outdoor central park for enhanced safety.

The exterior walls of the building provide the main security perimeter and include 16-ft. high security double walls, a curved fence with anti-mesh at the top, and fully enclosed patient courtyards located on the upper level patient units.

Hensel Phelps leads the design-build team, which consists of:

G70, architect of record
KMD , San Francisco-based architectural firm with experience in forensic psychiatric in-patient facilities design
Accurate Control, which is providing design-assist security electronics and detention equipment
AECOM for civil engineering
Baldridge & Associates Structural Engineering (BASE) for structural engineering
Buford Goff & Associates for secure electronics and low-voltage engineering
Censeo AV+ Acoustics, acoustical consultant
Dorvin D. Leis Co. for mechanical, plumbing, and fire protection engineering
Helix Electric for design-build electrical work
Palekana Permits & Planning for permit review
Ronald N.S. Ho Design, electrical and lighting engineering
Walters Kimua Motoda, landscape architects

Hawaiʻi State Hospital New Patient Facility, interior rendering. Courtesy image.

Hawaiʻi State Hospital New Patient Facility, Exterior rendering. Courtesy image.

Hawaiʻi State Hospital New Patient Facility, Exterior rendering. Courtesy image.