Highland Rivers moving outpatient services to One Door Polk
♦ Offices closing on Water Oak Drive on Sept. 6, reopening at One Door Polk following day
After much anticipation, Highland Rivers Health will be moving into One Door Polk next week.
The agency will close outpatient services at its current location on Water Oak Dr. on Thursday September 6, and will re-open at One Door Polk on Friday, September 7.
“I can’t say strongly enough how excited we are to finally be moving our outpatient services into One Door Polk,” said Highland Rivers Health CEO Melanie Dallas. “Not only is the location much more accessible for individuals to receive services, but being so close to our many community partners will add efficiency and convenience for everyone.”
With the move, Highland Rivers Health will be the largest tenant at One Door Polk, occupying some 20,000 square feet, more than 50 percent of the building. The agency moved some administrative offices and services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities into One Door Polk in 2016, but had been waiting for approvals from state health regulators in order to move additional services there.
With its clinic space fully prepped in the interim, Highland Rivers will now provide outpatient mental health and substance use treatment services at One Door Polk, as well as substance abuse intensive outpatient and peer support services. The agency’s transitional residential men’s program and crisis services unit will remain at its facility on Water Oak Drive.
Cedartown City Manager Bill Fann, who also sits on the Highland Rivers Health governing board, said having Highland Rivers move into One Door Polk completes the vision for the project, which began more than five years ago.
“When Polk Hospital wanted to move out of the building, we had a very specific idea of what we should do there, and I am proud to say that vision has been realized almost exactly as we planned,” said Fann. “Highland Rivers Health is one of the ‘anchor tenants’ at One Door Polk, and having them move all the services there that we had planned completes the picture.”
Highland Rivers CEO Melanie Dallas echoed that sentiment, noting that having the agency’s outpatient services co-located with primary care and other community services will be a benefit to individuals who receive services.
“Outpatient services are usually the entry point for all of our other services” she said. “Having our outpatient services in a more accessible location will not only make it easier for people to access those services, but will also allow us to make easy referrals for primary health care and other critical services, while allowing our partners agencies in the building to make more efficient referrals to us.”
“Having Highland Rivers onsite really does fulfill the whole idea of One Door Polk,” added Fann. “Our community residents can literally access all the health and social services they might need by going inside the door.”
Hours for Highland Rivers’ outpatient services at One Door Polk are Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. To schedule an appointment, call Highland Rivers at 1-800-729-5700.