A new 46,000-square-foot behavioral health outpatient pavilion at Loma Linda University will integrate clinical practice, academics and research for the mutual benefit of both patients and students.

Ground was officially broken in early July for this new center, which will be called the Behavioral Health Institute Outpatient Pavilion. It is scheduled to open its doors in late 2009, situated near the Loma Linda University Behavioral Medicine Center.

Many of the BMC’s outpatient programs will operate out of the institute, along with the following academic departments at LLU: counseling and family sciences, social work and social ecology, psychiatry, and psychology. Additionally, LLU’s marriage and family therapy clinic will move from its San Bernardino location to the institute, as well as the clinic that is now housed in the psychology department. The psychiatry department will also move its offices from the Dover Building to the new institute.

With all these related fields under one roof, the institute represents an improved clinical setting offering state-of-the-art care. Services will include therapy for families, couples, and individuals of any ages; intensive outpatient programs; psychological testing, and treatment by psychiatrists.

Because of the additional space, the BMC will be able to enlarge its busy outpatient services and help more people.

“The institute will provide a collaborative interaction between the mental health specialty areas LLU offers, resulting in expanded student contact with the other mental health disciplines,” notes William Murdoch, M.D., chair of the School of Medicine’s department of psychiatry.

Most of the academic departments moving to the institute are based in the School of Science and Technology.

“The new facilities for the Behavioral Health Institute offer opportunities for students to observe true interdisciplinary practice,” says Beverly Buckles, D.S.W., dean of SST, “and learn how to be a valued member of an interdisciplinary team that works together on behalf of consumers.”

Another benefit of the new institute will be the opportunity for research collaboration between students, faculty, and BMC clinicians.

Research will be able to stretch across disciplinary boundaries, and this will make projects more competitive when applying for funding from sources such as the National Institute of Mental Health, notes Murdoch.

The groundbreaking ceremony took place July 9 and was attended by approximately 200 people.