James M. Hunt, AIA, is a practicing architect and facility management professional with over 30 years experience. He is a registered Architect, holds a certificate from the National Council of Architectural Registration, and began his career practicing architecture for several major healthcare projects. He then served as director of facilities management for the Menninger Clinic for 20 years. In addition to managing their main campus, he also consulted on behavioral healthcare unit remodeling projects for their Clinical Network program, which involved work in eight states including both coasts and the Midwest. During this time he was a founding member of the Health Care Council of the International Facility Management Association. He held several offices in the council, including chair.
He was featured in a cover story of Facility Design and Management magazine and continues to publish numerous articles and speak at major conferences. He is the co-author of the "Design Guide for the Built Environment of Behavioral Health Facilities" that is published electronically on the website of the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (www.naphs.org). He speaks and publishes articles frequently including a paper in the 2009 AAH Journal titled, “Common Mistakes in Designing Psychiatric Hospitals”.
He is now the president of Behavioral Health Facility Consulting, LLC an organization that works with psychiatric hospitals and behavioral health facilities with improving patient and staff safety in 20 states and Canada. He consults with hospitals and architects on the design of new construction and remodeling projects. He can be reached at 2342 SE Alamar Road, Topeka, KS 66605 or jim@bhfcllc.com.