Step Exhibitions
Dauphin County Crisis Walk-in Centre Clinical Team – Connections Health Solutions
Nominee Information
Connections Health Solutions has set a new standard for crisis care through innovative and human-centred healthcare design. As the nation’s leading provider of behavioural health crisis stabilization, Connections has transformed the built environment of emergency psychiatric care, ensuring that spaces foster healing, dignity, and recovery. In 2024, the organization significantly expanded its impact with the opening of two state-of-the-art crisis care centers: Connections Kirkland in Washington and Connections Harrisburg in Pennsylvania. These centers provide a full continuum of crisis stabilization services, ensuring rapid access to emergency psychiatric care for individuals in acute distress.
These centers are the first-of-their-kind to offer 23-hour observation units, a critical level of care designed to provide rapid treatment for all individuals in crisis, including those with the highest acuity needs. The design of these units integrates open layouts with private, calming spaces to create an environment that prioritizes both safety and comfort. Thoughtful elements such as soft lighting, sound-absorbing materials, and dedicated quiet areas foster stabilization and reduce agitation. By incorporating trauma-informed design principles, these observation units create a secure yet welcoming setting that enhances patient engagement and promotes recovery.
Connections’ commitment to crisis care innovation is reflected in its holistic approach to co-design. Unlike traditional emergency departments or psychiatric units, Connections’ centers prioritize a peer support-lead model with non-institutional layouts, biophilic design, and natural light to support patient well-being and de-escalation. These elements, developed in collaboration with architects, clinicians, and individuals with lived experience, set a new precedent in crisis healthcare environments by ensuring that design actively contributes to recovery.
Connections also played a critical role in shaping national policy discussions that influence healthcare design. Their expertise was instrumental in the development of the recently released SAMHSA crisis continuum guidelines, which included the expanded classification the type of crisis centres to ensure that individuals in crisis have access to the appropriate level of care. Connections was particularly vocal in the creation of the high-intensity emergency stabilization centre classification, advocating for spaces designed to serve individuals with the most acute needs. By helping to formalize and standardize crisis care models at a national level, Connections has driven a shift in how crisis stabilization is understood, funded, and designed.
At its core, Connections Health Solutions exemplifies how intentional, research-driven design can improve lives. Their work is not just about constructing buildings—it is about reimagining crisis care and creating environments that heal. Through their unwavering commitment to excellence in healthcare design and policy advocacy, Connections is shaping the future of behavioural health centres, ensuring that individuals in crisis receive compassionate, effective care in spaces designed for healing and hope.
