Human Services

What is Common Ground?

Last year, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners instructed the County Manager to direct a movement toward addressing health equity and the social determinants of health for all residents.  As a result, Fulton County Health and Human Services was created to improve service delivery to residents and to improve interdepartmental collaborations with current and future external partnerships.

The Common Ground initiative is the county’s solution for addressing health disparities in our communities.  The initiative has been implemented with the goal of creating equity through public policy and community engagement.

Which Fulton County departments are involved with Common Ground?

Health and Human Services’ goal is to maximize service delivery between departments within Fulton County Government.  Health and Human Services is the umbrella for departments such as Health and Wellness, Behavioral Health, Human Services, Housing and Community Development, Library, Arts Council and Cooperative Extension to directly address health disparities. The integration of these departments will benefit residents by providing them with centralized access to all services.

How does Common Ground affect residents?

The first collaborative effort was unveiled on February 6, 2009, with the opening of the renovated Neighborhood Union Health Center.  The historical health center reopened with a focus on providing services that address the entire well-being of the client.  Clients have centralized access to medical care, behavioral health and substance abuse services, job counseling and training.  This successful collaboration also includes a partnership with the Morehouse School of Medicine.  This partner is providing primary care services to address chronic diseases that are prevalent in the community.

A second effort, Primary Care Lite, opened in March 2009.  The new walk-in clinic is located on the second floor of the Aldredge Health Center.  Primary Care Lite provides affordable and limited primary care services to adults in Fulton County with a principal focus on education, prevention and screenings of chronic diseases.  The cost for initial and follow-up visits and lab services is $20.00 per visit or a sli ding fee scale, whichever is applicable.

Health and Human Services is currently working on a new North Fulton facility that will be located in the North Fulton Annex.  Once complete, the staff and clients of Sandy Springs Health Center will move in to continue providing public health services to the community.  North Fulton Annex will be a one-stop-shop that will have Health and Human Services departments available to assist residents with their needs.

How does Common Ground affect Fulton County Employees?

Common Ground is a new way of doing business -- a new approach to service delivery.   Every employee will serve as a conduit to linking clients to services that will address specific health disparities.

In order to assist the residents with reaching a common ground and having access to health care along with the aforementioned services, it is critical that all staff deliver excellent customer service.

What role do I play in implementing Common Ground?

We all have a role.  As a Fulton County employee we are expected to continue to provide excellent customer service to all of our customers, internal and external.  We need to expand our capabilities to learn about each department’s services in order to maximize service delivery to reduce health disparities.