A change order Fulton County commissioners approved Wednesday will add $3 million to the cost of the county’s new Behavioral Health Crisis Center — but that will still be just under the construction project’s $15 million original estimate.
The crisis center, the first to be publicly funded in Fulton County, is being added to the existing Oak Hill Child Adolescent & Family Center at 2805 Metropolitan Parkway SW. It will be operated under contract by Grady Health Services, and will open later this year. The state budget includes more than $13 million in annual operating funds for the center.
“This $3 million change order represents the advice we have received from our operator, Grady, and the state to address safety concerns,” said Pamela Roshell, the county’s chief operating officer for Health, Human Services & Public Works.
Commissioners unanimously approved the change order.
The center will have a full pharmacy, and most of the added cost will go toward building that to state standards, she said. A separate cost overrun of $160,000 will likewise be absorbed by the change order.
The county has allocated Federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for the project.
The design-and-build contract commissioners approved last year was for $11.4 million. Adding the change order with primary contractor Hogan Construction Group of Norcross and 14 subcontractors will bring the total to $14.4 million, according to county documents.
The Oak Hill center, which already houses a community kitchen, childhood hearing test lab and other community services, will remain in operation. Those facilities will be renovated, and one wing of the current structure will eventually house youth mental health services.
A new wing will add more than 23,000 square feet for the crisis stabilization center. Plans call for a 24-bed crisis stabilization unit and a lower-level facility with 18 observation chairs. Central to the Fulton County plan is a “living room” model, a comfortable and informal area where walk-in patients can talk with staff without necessarily remaining for longer-term care.
