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One of the dental suites at the Crisis Services and Diagnostic Center in Macon, set to open summer 2025.
Credit: Sofi Gratas/GPB News
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LISTEN: Primary and crisis care for people with disabilities soon to be available at Macon center
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LISTEN: The center is a collaboration between the state, Macon’s River Edge Behavioral Health and Mercer University. GPB's Sofi Gratas has more.
A one-of-a-kind health care facility in Macon, where people with intellectual and developmental disabilities will be able to get primary and crisis care is set to accept its first patients in the coming weeks.
The center is a collaboration between the state, Macon’s River Edge Behavioral Health and Mercer University.
Inside the new center, there are rooms for mobility training, dental care, and blood workups. Doctors' offices are not always suited for people with disabilities — this center will have providers better trained to help.
On the building’s other side are de-escalation rooms and 16 beds meant for people in a mental health crisis.
Kevin Tanner, who oversees the state behavioral health agency, says they hope to relieve pressure across the state.
"We need a place to bring very difficult to treat individuals ... where we can stabilize them, really understand medically, behaviorally, what's happening with the individual," Tanner said. "And then we can step them down to a community placement" such as a transitional or group home.
People can be housed at the Macon center for up to 90 days.
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