The Mental Health Outpatient Services Design Guide (PG-18-12 Chapters 260 (202, 261, 272, 300)) was developed as a tool to assist VA clinical, contracting, planning, construction and engineering staff in better understanding the space, equipment and planning concepts for Outpatient Mental Health Services. The Guide addresses general space and equipment planning, as well as functional and technical requirements for outpatient mental health.
This VA Mental Health Outpatient Services Design Guide has been developed as a stand-alone document in contrast to the 2010/2014 edition of the VA Mental Health Design Guide, which addresses both inpatient and outpatient mental health care. It was determined that a single Design Guide could not efficiently address the extensive array of services that are provided by VA. Thus, separate documents for outpatient and inpatient care were deemed essential.
This document focuses on the continuum of outpatient services offered by the VA. It includes integration of mental health providers into primary care; general mental health clinics; specialty mental health outpatient programs; psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery centers; and a range of settings that provide health care to homeless Veterans.
