County cash needed for 'gamechanger' south Cobb public health center

Jan. 30—ATLANTA — While Cobb and Douglas Public Health is eager to build a new public health center in south Cobb, it is still waiting to see if Cobb County will allocate federal COVID-19 relief funds to cover nearly half the cost of the proposed facility.

The status of a new south Cobb public health center was one of several topics addressed by Lisa Crossman, deputy director of CDPH, speaking before the Cobb County Legislative Delegation Monday.

"I'm excited about it ... We really need improved access down in that south Cobb area, and we have for years. A lot of our residents down in that area have to travel significantly to get primary care and different services that they need," Crossman told the MDJ.

The proposal to build a new public health center in south Cobb dates back years. CDPH's existing south Cobb facility is off Riverside Parkway, in the same complex as the South Cobb Recreation Center and South Cobb Aquatic Center.

"But the center is so tiny down there, it really can't do everything that those residents need," Crossman told legislators Monday.

The new facility, Crossman said, would be about 30,000 square feet and offer all of CDPH's public health services (the current facility only offers a handful). CDPH also hopes to partner with a third-party healthcare provider, which would offer adult and pediatric primary care, as well as behavioral and mental health services.

Crossman said the facility will likely cost $16.5 million.

The county's 2022 special-purpose local-option sales tax allocates $1.75 million for the project. CDPH has also applied for $7.4 million in federal COVID relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The department is still waiting to hear from the county about if and when the Board of Commissioners might consider that request.

The rest of the cost would be covered by reserve funds that CDPH's Board of Directors has set aside for the project.

"My hope is that all of that will come together in the next six months, and we can start construction in 2023, and have it open in 2024," Crossman told legislators.

While construction remains an open question, CDPH believes the site has been secured. The South Cobb Redevelopment Authority, Crossman said, has agreed to donate land it owns for the project.

The land in question is part of a 50-acre parcel once occupied by the Magnolia Crossing apartments, at the intersection of Factory Shoals Road and Riverside Parkway.

The blighted apartment complex was razed by the county in 2015 after it became dilapidated and crime-ridden. County commissioners last September heard a request from developers to construct 500 new apartments at the site. But they weren't pleased that the proposal only included housing, with no plans for a bank, grocery store or farmers markets, components that would have satisfied the mixed-use requirement for the site.

The Board of Commissioners voted to allow Minnesota-based developer Dominium to revise its site plan. Commissioner Monique Sheffield told the MDJ last month the clinic is still expected to be built on the site, even if development of the rest of the property continues to stall.

Jurisdiction over the site's zoning, however, will change soon. The site is located in the new city of Mableton, which will elect its first mayor and City Council in March.

Crossman said that once the Mableton council is seated "we will follow (the redevelopment authority's) lead on next steps."

However it gets built, the proposed facility was well-received by legislators.

"I think that's going to be a gamechanger," said state Rep. Terry Cummings, D-Mableton.

CDPH opened a new public health center in Smyrna in 2018.

"The health center that was redone in Smyrna several years ago has been just a fantastic resource to the community," said state Rep. Teri Anulewicz, D-Smyrna, delegation chair. "I've taken my kids there for immunizations."

Responding to a question from Anulewicz, Crossman confirmed the new facility will, like the Smyrna Public Health Center, be located along a bus line.

Added Anulewicz, of the Smyrna center, "There's just so much more dignity in the process ... I think the more dignity you have in a process like that, the more likely you are as a health consumer to seek preventative care."