Sam Chapo’s Interview With Concora On Universal Design

Behavioral Safety’s Business Development Manager Discusses Healthcare Design

 

Sam Chapo, Behavioral Safety’s Business Development Manager, had the privilege of sitting down with Concora for an interview to discuss how universal design can benefit healthcare facilities who want to keep patients safe.

 

“Hospitals and the architects designing them want to have patient rooms that can be used for multiple purposes. That’s where we come in,” says Chapo, who works for Behavioral Safety in designing and manufacturing ligature-resistant building products for suicide prevention.

 

Universal design can be accommodating and flexible for all types of people, so this is a great step in making healthcare more efficient, safe, and easier for treating patients. Healthcare facilities should be adapting to patients’ ever-changing needs, and Behavioral Safety can work with your facility to do just that.

“Our founder, Lee deLoache, started in the construction business as a Mechanical Engineer and Project Manager constructing psychiatric hospitals,” Chapo explains. “At the time, he found it very difficult to find a single source for proven safety products to go into the facilities to keep patients safe. So, he thought, ‘If I can’t find them, why not make them?’”

In any hospital, behavioral healthcare, or institutional setting, there is a risk of patient suicide. Though this seems to be a preventable thing, it is a serious problem that many facilities face as demand in the healthcare industry continues to expand. When accommodating those with mental illness, hospitals and facilities should prioritize the patient. Safety precautions should be put in place, and that includes ways to help prevent suicide. One of the ways to do this is to install features, products, furniture, and appliances that are designed specifically to deter and remove the possibility of ligature as a means for harm.

Chapo also mentioned in his interview: “At Behavioral Safety Products, we’re trying to make products not only safe for the patient but pleasing to look at. Many of our products are powder coated white which gives a softer, more pleasing appearance than something such as stainless steel. Plumbing fixtures and toilet and bath accessories that are stainless steel or brushed steel can give the appearance or feeling of a jail cell and can therefore cause undue stress on a patient. We want to ensure that patients feel like they are at home or in a hotel room rather than in a cell.”

We’re looking forward to continuing our relationship with healthcare design partners and furthering our mission in the healthcare industry. Read Sam Chapo’s full interview with Concora here to hear his thoughts and how universal design reflects our vision. Want to learn more about Behavioral Safety? Contact us today to see how we can help keep your patients safe.

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With over 45 years of experience in the behavioral healthcare industry, Behavioral Safety Products specializes in designing products for patient environments that promote suicide prevention. Our extensive line of ligature resistant products includes shower heads, shower controls, sinks, faucets, toilets, grab bars, paper towel dispensers, soap dispensers, mirrors, TV enclosures, HVAC enclosures, window shades, door hardware, furniture, and more. Our passion is to save patients’ lives, while improving the quality of their environment by working with facilities, architects, and engineers to be front-runners in problem-solving.