Strengthening The Safety Net: Grady Brings Mental Health Services Into Primary Care

Grady Health System has blended mental health services into regular patient visits in the Atlanta system’s primary care clinics. Studies have shown that integrating behavioral health into primary care can lead to better health outcomes for patients – and lower overall health costs.

Al Such / WABE

After her daughter’s death last year, Helen Dennard says, “I went over the edge.’’

It followed other deaths in her family in recent years. Dennard, an Atlanta resident, found herself angry and depressed by the time she went to her regular Grady Health System physician for a checkup.

“I had really given up on life. I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t sleeping,’’ says Dennard, 66. “I wouldn’t leave the house or do anything.’’