Center for Children’s Integrated Services breaks ground in Flint
By David Malone, Managing Editor
The Genessee Health System (GHS) and the Greater Flint Mental Health Facilities Inc. have broken ground on the GHS Center for Children’s Integrated Services in Flint, Mich.
The 60,000-sf project was designed to serve as an important step in Flint’s recovery from the contaminated water crisis. It will bring all GHS children’s program areas under one roof, including the Neurodevelopmental Center for Excellence, a Children’s Autism Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center, Child and Family Services, and Community Outreach programming. The facility will include a cafe, an outdoor plaza, a secure playground, and comfortable waiting spaces intended to make the facility feel inviting for regular, repeat visitors while supporting clinical programs with an activities-based approach.
A series of autism pods, as well as an autism playground area, are part of a highly developed treatment facility for children on the autism spectrum, which is one of the leading outcomes seen from the water crisis. These spaces will include surface materials for touch and playground objects designed to enhance motor skills.
The Center will improve access to behavioral health and primary care services for low- to moderate-income residents of the Flint area and will act as a cornerstone of future neighborhood redevelopment.
HED is designing the project and DW Lurvey is building it. The GHS Center for Children’s Integrated Services is scheduled to open by the end of summer 2022.
