In August 2010, DASNY completed work on Building 7 for children and youth in-patient services. At the close of 2014, DASNY finished work on Building 8, which will soon house 50 in-patient adults. The scope of work, which involved six individual prime contracts, as well as independent OMH contracts, included a complete renovation and expansion of the existing building to better accommodate OMH residents. In addition to bright, well-appointed single and double occupancy bedrooms, the building houses numerous meeting rooms, bathrooms, dining spaces, a fitness room, a full kitchen and two secure green outside spaces. The project earned energy rebates from NYSERDA due to building efficiencies. Additional features include state-of-the-art security, occupancy safety and interior high-level building management/HVAC systems. The project is slated for LEED Silver and was fully commissioned by an independent OMH consultant.

DASNY's Communications and Marketing staff recently had the opportunity to tour the updated building and we were impressed with the fresh, new, peaceful environment. OMH put much care into developing the tranquil color scheme and artwork which include paintings of fall landscapes and warm, earth tone colors. Additional renovation work on Buildings 1, 15 and 17 is currently under discussion and in the design phase with work expected to continue for the next several years.

As for “Sally Ports” and “Wicket Doors,” a sally port is a controlled entryway that includes two secure doors separated by a hallway.

The term was first used in the 1600s when a "sally port" was a sort of dock where boats would pick up a ship's crew and ferry them to the vessel anchored offshore, or vice versa. There are three sally ports at Hutchings PC.	A wicket door, shown below, is a door that includes a smaller door within the door to create a separate point of entry into a room if the main door is locked or blocked. At Hutchings PC, wicket doors are present on many of the patient rooms and common spaces to allow for a second point of access in the event that a patient or staff member is blocking the main door from opening.

You can learn more details about the Hutchings PC project, as well as many other DASNY projects, by visiting our Project Gallery on DASNY.org.