The Stewart & Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA: A Leader in Mental Healthcare

The Stewart & Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital (NPH) at UCLA stands as a global leader in mental health care, research, and education. As a key part of the UCLA Health System, the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital is the major psychiatry teaching facility of the UCLA Center for the Health Sciences. The hospital integrates research into patient care. The hospital is licensed by the State of California and accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO).

Overview

The Stewart & Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA is among the leading centers in the world for comprehensive patient care, research and education in the fields of mental health, developmental disabilities and neurology. With 74 inpatient beds, this top-ranked facility spans 75,020 square feet. The hospital serves patients of all ages with psychiatric and developmental challenges.

The mission of Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, in association with the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, is to develop and maintain an environment in which education and research are integrated with exemplary patient care. The mission also includes serving the healthcare needs of the community, its patients, and their families through excellence in research, education, and the delivery of neuropsychiatric and behavioral health services.

Comprehensive and Specialized Programs

The Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA offers a range of comprehensive and specialized programs tailored to different age groups and specific needs.

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Child psychiatry addresses autism, schizophrenia and eating disorders, while adult services cover severe mood disorders and trauma. Child and adolescent psychiatry services provide inpatient services for a variety of psychiatric disorders, including conduct disorder, attentional-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, autism and other developmental disorders, and other complex neurobehavioral disorders.

The Child and Adolescent Partial Hospital Programs offer daytime acute care services for young patients with disorders such as autism, obsessive-compulsive disorders and other childhood disorders. The Child and Adolescent Partial Hospital Programs provides daytime acute care services for children and adolescents in an outpatient setting with participants returning home at night. Specialties of this program include treatment for autism-spectrum disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and other disorders of childhood.

Adult Psychiatry

Adult psychiatry services provide comprehensive care for patients with psychiatric illness ages 18 and over. Inpatient services accept patients admitted under the care of psychiatrists on either a voluntary or involuntary basis. The Inpatient Unit is divided into three distinct neighborhoods and provides intensive nursing care and treatment for patients in severely disorganized, unsafe, or agitated states, as well as routine nursing care for the treatment of acutely ill psychiatric patients.

The Adult Partial Hospital and Intensive Outpatient Programs cater to adults with severe mood disorders, dual diagnoses, postpartum mood disorders and trauma. The Adult Partial Hospital and Intensive Outpatient Programs offer daytime acute care services for adults in an outpatient setting with participants returning home at night. Specialties include treatment for severe mood disorders, dual diagnosis, obsessive-compulsive disorders, post-partum mood disorders, thought disorders, and trauma.

Geriatric Psychiatry

Geriatric psychiatry caters to those aged 55 and above, providing expert evaluation and treatment for mood disorders and dementia. Geriatric psychiatry services provide comprehensive care for adults 55 and older. Common services in the geriatric services program include evaluation and differential diagnosis of acute emotional and behavioral problems such as mood disorders, dementia psychosis, and complex behavioral disturbances that may be associated with underlying medical illnesses.

The Geriatric Medical Psychiatry Unit is an acute-care setting facility where geriatric patients are evaluated and stabilized. The team provides patients and families with education and treatment to ensure a smooth transition back to the community. The Geriatric Psychiatry Unit has expertise in Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and provides this service within both the inpatient and outpatient settings. The Departments of Medicine (Geriatric Medicine) and Geriatric Psychiatry operate clinics in adjacent buildings, which facilitates close interactions among clinicians and researchers.

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Leading-Edge Research and Advanced Therapies

By integrating research into patient care, the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA is at the forefront of advancements in psychiatry. Research programs at the Neuropsychiatric Institute enable the staff to develop and apply the newest and most appropriate therapeutic methods. The institute also conducts educational programs at the undergraduate and postdoctoral level.

Multidisciplinary Team

The staff of Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital is composed of faculty from the departments of psychiatry, neurology, medicine and pediatrics, as well as members from the professional disciplines of nursing, psychology, occupational therapy, recreational therapy, speech pathology, social work and special education. Patients of NPH and their families participate actively in their plan for treatment, during hospitalization, and after discharge, and special procedures and personnel are employed to ensure the most effective involvement of families in the care of patients. Team members include specialists in psychiatry, neurology, medicine and pediatrics, as well as nursing, psychology, occupational therapy, recreational therapy, speech pathology, social work and special education.

Calming and Therapeutic Environment

The hospital's design creates a calming environment with mostly private rooms, ample natural light and outdoor spaces. UCLA Health psychiatrists, nurses, general services and numerous other clinical and non-clinical personnel worked extensively with the designer on a layout that ensures safety and promotes a healing environment. The project is designed to achieve an aesthetic for optimal patient and staff experience.

The interior design facilitates caregiving by creating spaces that incorporate best practices in behavioral health, with a priority on safety for patients and staff, while avoiding an institutional feeling and supporting both therapy and comfort. Selection of colors and materials are informed by an “urban oasis” approach that includes natural elements and visuals, light-filled spaces and connections to nature.

Separated outdoor gardens and spaces are being created to meet the different needs of pediatric and adult patients. This includes opportunities to play and engage in recreation, and other areas for therapy, contemplation or meditation. Spaces also will meet the needs of patients with limited mobility. Staff will have access to a dedicated garden and indoor break areas to support their needs.

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Each inpatient unit consists of three “neighborhoods” and each neighborhood will have a dayroom, a dining room and a quiet room. Innovative sensory rooms are also included in the project. The vast majority of patient rooms are single occupancy, with some designed for dual occupancy when therapeutically appropriate. Each unit includes a group therapy room, a multipurpose room for art and music therapy, occupational therapy and other activities. There will also be two kitchens designed for use by patients during occupational therapy, spaces with gym equipment for physical therapy and a teaching classroom for school-age patients.

The dedicated care area for crisis stabilization services will include private rooms to support initial assessment and a communal “living room” area for use by individuals as they stabilize and are able to engage in treatment planning and to self-select between activities and rest. All care areas are designed for direct observation by clinical staff to ensure safe and supporting care.

Sustainable Practices

The new neuropsychiatric hospital will meet or exceed University of California standards for environmentally sustainable practices for building materials, energy and water use, waste management, and reduction of fossil fuels use. It will be an all-electric building.

Plans call for low-flow plumbing fixtures and showers to reduce water consumption, retention of rainwater runoff, high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment, and use of low-carbon and renewable building materials.

Historical Context and Modernization

The former Olympia community hospital included four inter-connected, but not cohesively designed buildings constructed at separate times since 1950. Of these, one will be fully replaced, with a new elevator, vertical air-circulation system and a rooftop central plant. The others will retain only their superstructure.

The entire property will benefit from 100% new interiors and exteriors upgraded to current building codes and outfitted with current technology. The most distinctive external feature - the curved pavilion wing - will be retained.

Accessibility and Language Assistance

The Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA is committed to providing accessible and inclusive care to all patients. We want to speak to you in the language that you’re most comfortable with when you call or visit us. Qualified interpreter services, including sign language, are available at no cost, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during all hours of operations at all points of contact. We do not encourage the use of family, friends or minors as interpreters. Only the services of interpreters and qualified staff are used to provide language assistance. These may include bilingual providers, staff, and healthcare interpreters. In-person, telephone, video, and alternative modes of communication are available.

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