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WEBINAR | A Conversational User’s Guide for the New York State Office of Mental Health Patient Safety Standards


When: August 15, 2024
Time: 12:00pm Pacific
Where: United States
Price: FREE
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1 unit EDAC continuing education
1 unit AIA continuing education
IDCEC credit also available**

CEU forms available for download during webinar

CEUs

For the past sixteen years, the New York State Office of Mental Health has published The Patient Safety Standards, Materials and Systems Guidelines – a  set of standards and guidelines to support state and community operated psychiatric inpatient facilities in their effort to provide interior environments with zero tolerance for suicide. 

The guidelines are published twice a year and the team behind the document’s publication strives to keep it current through researching, testing, and including products that represent best practices for safety and contribute to a positive therapeutic environment. 

The “Patient Safety Standards” are referenced throughout the US, are listed as a reference standard by FGI in the Guidelines for the Design and Construction of Hospitals, and are a regularly used resource by Joint Commission surveyors.

This webinar will provide a brief history of the document’s inception and evolution over the years, and will explain its purpose in the context of New York State’s Office of Mental Health. Presenters will explain the various paths that products may take in their quest to be accepted into the Patient Safety Standards, including the rigorous testing protocols followed for every entry. Attendees will learn how, when and why to use the Patient Safety Standards on projects, and how to educate their own clients and colleagues on the applicability of the document.   
 

 

 

 

Learning Objectives

  • Become familiar with the history and purpose of the NYS OMH Patient Safety Standards for interior behavioral health environments.
  • Understand the process by which products are tested and included in the Patient Safety Standards.
  • Explore testing methodologies performed by architecture+ in service to NYS OMH safety standards.
  • Discuss the application of the Patient Safety Standards on your behavioral and mental health design projects.

 

Presenting Faculty

Sara Wengert, AIA NCARB ASID, Principal, architecture+

Sara Wengert leads national healthcare projects as Principal and Lead Interior Designer at architecture+. She has the expertise and enthusiasm to elicit each client’s needs during programming and design to create safe, healing recovery settings. Her consistent presence throughout the course of all of her projects ensures the realization of her clients’ vision. Sara’s deep understanding of patient risk mitigation has positioned her as Principal in charge of the NYS Office Mental Health Patient Safety Standards project for the past ten years.

Sara has been a topic group member of the 2022 FGI Health Guidelines Revision Committee (HGRC), contributing to the creation of guidelines for behavioral health crisis units. She is also a proud member of the Center for Health Design’s Behavioral and Mental Health Environment Network, a newly assembled multi-disciplinary group of professionals whose focus is on the improvement of behavioral and mental health environments.

 

Alethea Splittgerber, Senior Project Coordinator, architecture+

Alethea Splittgerber is a vital member of the mental health design studio at architecture+. She manages their twelve-person patient safety team, coordinating the testing, research, and documentation of architectural systems for psychiatric inpatient environments to ensure high quality and safety for all patients, staff, and visitors. Alethea conducts patient safety workshops for our large mental health hospital projects to facilitate our clients’ selection of patient-safe fixtures and systems. She most recently participated in the workshop for six Texas Health and Human Services Hospitals and led the workshop for the 165-bed North Dakota State Hospital.

Alethea also serves as the liaison for the firm’s Statewide Campus Master Plan contract with NYS OMH, which involves planning services for eleven campuses throughout New York State. Her role on design projects also includes programming and quality control.

 

Matt Coonradt, Facilities Planner, New York State Office of Mental Health

Matt Coonradt has served the State of New York in a variety of capacities for over ten years. He leads the Patient Safety Standards Project which is a resource for all construction projects at the State’s psychiatric hospitals and is a referenced standard in the FGI.  Matt is responsible for serving as the Owner’s representative and Project Manager for a multitude of projects at three OMH campuses. He also provides routine Life Safety Code review and guidance to OMH facilities and acts as the point person for Joint Commission surveyors associated with tri-annual accreditation surveys of both the clinical treatment of patients and of the overall building conditions.

 

Many attendees of The Center for Health Design’s webinars have inquired about IDCEC approval so they can earn ASID, IIDA, and IDS CEU’s. We have looked into this and unfortunately, the cost to upload courses to IDCEC is simply too high at this time. You can still earn credit for attending our webinars by requesting a verification certificate. As of July 9, 2020, The Center for Health Design requires a CEU management fee for verification certificates for all webinars and EBD Journal Clubs. Please contact Natalie Gonzalez, Project Manager, ngonzalez@healthdesign.org. 

For further details about how to self-report CEUs to IDCEC, please CLICK HERE.