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Two Middle Georgia mental health providers merge as the state streamlines its safety net care
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LISTEN: There are 21 community service boards in Georgia, born out of an effort to standardize mental health care out of regional hospitals and back into communities. GPB's Sofi Gratas has more.
Two top behavioral health service providers in Middle Georgia have merged under an effort to streamline services.
River Edge Behavioral Health, based in Macon, officially took over services at Oconee Center Community Service Board last month.
There are 21 community service boards in Georgia, born out of an effort to standardize mental health care out of regional hospitals and back into communities.
The merger means River Edge is now responsible for six more Middle Georgia counties, from Milledgeville to Sandersville. Those are Baldwin, Hancock, Jasper, Putnam, Washington and Wilkinson counties.
River Edge recently opened a $20 million inpatient crisis and diagnostic center for people with disabilities, and another where adults experiencing addiction can get support. Both are in Macon.
A partnership with local law enforcement also puts River Edge in the city’s jail, working with people experiencing mental health or behavioral health crisis.
CEO Cass Hatcher said they’re currently assessing what new services these six counties might need, and if that includes an expansion to care for people in crisis.
"And how big of a crisis problem that they have in the various counties," Hatcher said. "And, of course, it starts with the jail."
State reports indicate that local jails care for thousands of people in crisis, especially in rural counties, every year.
Community service boards are the safety net of mental health and disability services. These boards get money from the state every year to offer therapy, crisis intervention, and addictive disease support to adults and children.
But state leadership recently said outcomes haven't been consistent.
A state law passed earlier this year gave Georgia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities the green light to revamp community service boards.
That includes restructuring each organization’s governing board, and expanding the responsibilities of community service board executive directors, who will now be appointed by the DBHDD commissioner.
The DBHDD will also implement mandatory training for board leadership and a new set of performance measures to track what’s working and what’s not.
"We need to measure it, compare it to others, and be able to understand who truly are our top performers across the state," said Jade Benefield, the new director of the community service board network, at a recent agency meeting.
Each community service board will also be expected to implement new standardized bylaws.
Kaleb McMichen, spokesperson for the Department, said the River Edge and Oconee merger was based on "concerns about financial stability," and that bringing operations fully under the purview of the Macon-based provider was done to ensure patients could receive uninterrupted care.
"As happens from time to time, it became necessary for the state to intervene," he said.
The DBHDD did not confirm whether or not any additional mergers of community service boards were in the works.
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