MAY 2026 ISSUE

FEATURE

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Meeting Schools Where They Are: Preparing Rural Georgia for a Stronger, Healthier School Year

By Joye Simmons, Clinical Behavioral Mental Health Specialist

Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center clinical behavioral health specialists Mercedes Madrid-Lowery, LCSW, and Joye Simmons visit with Putnam County School District educational mental health specialist Pamela Reese, LPC, center.

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For most schools in Georgia, the 2025-26 school year is coming to an end, but the important work continues year-round. Academic priorities, staffing challenges, increasing mental health needs and student behavioral concerns are issues faced by educational systems across the state. However, rural school systems face additional, location-specific challenges that even urban schools within Georgia may struggle to understand. Challenges such as provider shortages, transportation barriers, flexibility and access gaps are just a few that are specific to rural communities.

The Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center offers services designed to meet the unique needs of schools and children in rural communities. Through the Pediatric Mental Health Initiative and the Kids Alliance for Better Care (KidsABC) program, in collaboration with Mercer University School of Medicine and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, all services are free of charge, which reinforces the KidsABC belief that healthy hometowns start with healthy kids. 

New Grant Funds Research on Farmer Mental Health Outreach

Anne Montgomery, Ph.D., received funding through the 2026 Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Young Scholars Enhancement Grant Program to support a new project focused on farmer mental health education and sustainable agriculture.

The project, titled "Participatory Development and Cognitive Testing of an Evaluation Instrument for Farmer Mental Health Education in Sustainable Agricultural Communities," will engage student scholars in the development of an evaluation tool designed specifically for agricultural outreach and farmer mental health training programs.

Dr. Montgomery is an associate professor and program director of the Rural Health Sciences Ph.D. Program at Mercer University School of Medicine and a biostatistician at the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center. She will lead the initiative in collaboration with student scholars from Mercer University and Fort Valley State University. 

Rural Farm Spotlight: Farmacy Herb Makers Nursery

by Kayla Stroud, Communications and Events Specialist

Farmacy Herb Makers Nursery

Who: Eda Garcia and Sam X

Where: Sylvester, Georgia, Worth County

Eda Garcia and her husband, Sam X, founded Farmacy Herb Makers Nursery in 2023 to pursue their passions for farming and wellness. The nursery offers a selection of medicinal and culinary herbs. The couple also connects agriculture and art through the Village Community Garden. Many residents volunteer at the farm for exercise and social connection. “Every Tuesday, people come here to work in the garden, and they call it ‘agro-cise,’” Garcia said. “We take our most sedentary citizens, and now they’re walkers. That’s healthy living. You want to live a long, healthy life, and anything we can do to help people do that is our goal. That’s why we also host Thursday health and wellness classes. That’s why we have the nursery and make these resources available in communities where they may not otherwise exist.”

The Georgia Agricultural Wellness Alliance (GAWA), at Mercer University School of Medicine’s Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center, is a coalition of organizations dedicated to addressing farm health, safety and well-being in Georgia. GAWA was established in response to the prevalence of mental health challenges experienced by farm families and communities, which was revealed, in large part, through a joint study conducted by GRHIC, led by Anne Montgomery, Ph.D., and students in the School of Medicine’s Rural Health Sciences Ph.D. program. GAWA's focus is all of Georgia's farming communities.

KidsABC Celebrates Washington County Regional Medical Center's Emergency Department

Washington County Regional Medical Center was recognized for its commitment to strengthening pediatric emergency care in Washington County during a celebration event on May 2. KidsABC helps participating rural hospitals acquire child-friendly equipment, complete pediatric-specific emergency care staff training, and implement the latest protocols and policies for treating children with acute medical conditions.

Rural Hospital Emergency Department Collaborative

The KidsABC Rural Emergency Department Project continues to advance rural pediatric care across Georgia. This month, we continued providing ED Staff Education Days at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, which are education sessions focused on providing foundational skills for emergency pediatric care. Staff from the following hospitals were in attendance: Stephens County Hospital, Union General Hospital, Phoebe Sumter Medical Center, and Dorminy Medical Center. The team plans to continue bringing initial and recertification Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) classes, and other pediatric-specific training, across rural Georgia as needs arise among participating facilities.

Rural Pediatric Support Collaborative

The KidsABC Rural Pediatrics Telehealth Program in pediatric and family medicine offices continues to make a significant impact. The program has already doubled the number of telehealth visits completed compared to the previous year.

As momentum continues to build, KidsABC is actively recruiting rural pediatric and family medicine offices to participate in cohort four, further expanding access to specialty pediatric care for underserved communities. Through the KidsABC alliance with specialists and subspecialists the program is helping reduce lengthy wait times and minimize the burden associated with traveling long distances for medical appointments.

Rural Pediatric Mental Health Collaborative

The KidsABC team mailed introductory letters and program one-pagers to selected rural school districts regarding participation in the Universal School Wellness Screening Program for the upcoming academic school year. The outreach effort is focused on raising awareness and building relationships with rural districts to support early identification of student wellness and behavioral health needs.

The team traveled to multiple rural counties to meet with district leadership and school personnel. These meetings introduced the screening program, reviewing implementation processes and discussing opportunities for collaboration and district participation. Additional meetings are planned for this summer to finalize dates and times for presentations and discussions.

KidsABC Training Events

KidsABC Autism in Rural Georgia Conference

July 9-10 | Mercer University

Planning is underway for this year's Autism in Rural Georgia Conference.

Topics:

• School Services for Autistic Children
• Developmental Milestones and Autism Detection
• Autism Detection and EarliPoint
• Support for Autistic Young Adults
• Medication Management
• Managing Crisis and Difficult Behavior
• Managing Autism Social Concerns

9.75 credits available

Community Health Fairs


The Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center works with rural partners to enhance health education through health fairs. 

We encourage these community members to join us:

Putnam County Back-to School Health Fair

July 11 | 10 a.m.–1 p.m.

Maternal Health Symposium

June 25 | Mercer University

Topics for this year's Maternal Health Symposium:

• Perinatal Safety Planning and Disaster Preparedness
• Maternal Healthcare and Referral Network — At All Times and in All Weather
• Safe Infant Feeding During a Disaster
• Maternal Health and Family Wellness Before, During, and After a Disaster
• Recent Maternal Mortality Data: Trends and Potential Opportunities for Prevention
• Safe from the Start: Safe Sleep and CPR for Infants

6.25 credits available

Georgia Healthy Farmer Mindset

Monthly Meeting | Virtual

Each month, the Georgia Agricultural Wellness Alliance hosts the Georgia Healthy Farmer Mindset Zoom meeting, which focuses on topics related to stress and mental health in the agricultural community. 

Georgia Mobile Integrated Health and Community Paramedicine ECHO

June–October | Virtual

The Georgia Mobile Integrated Health and Community Paramedicine Conversations & Voices ECHO provides continued learning opportunities to mobile integrated health and community paramedicine professionals around the state. This ECHO is tailored to increase mobile integrated health professionals' and community paramedics’ understanding of specifics they may encounter in the field such as motivational interviewing, resilience training, and patient-centered communication. Mobile integrated health professionals and community paramedics are encouraged to attend to increase their networks of support with peers and subject matter experts.

Premature Ovarian Insufficiency in Underserved and Rural Areas

Mercer University School of Medicine researchers received IRB approval for their project, “Premature Ovarian Insufficiency in Underserved and Rural Areas.”



The study will establish focus groups of women who have lost ovarian function due to prophylactic surgery related to a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, as well as those whose ovarian function was affected by cancer treatments. Insights from these groups will inform the development of medical education programs for rural physicians and patients, helping address existing gaps in care.



Ultimately, the team aims to establish an interdisciplinary clinic dedicated to the medical, mental health, wellness, and peer-support needs of cancer survivors and women who have undergone bilateral oophorectomy.

Researchers: Chefetz Menaker, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology; Kristina Hawkins, MD, associate professor of OB-GYN; Candi Nobles-James, MD, senior associate dean of the Mercer School of Medicine Macon Campus; Betsy Smith, DrPH, MPH, associate professor of internal medicine; Anna Krampl, associate professor of library and information science; and Sorita Carter, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral science.

ABOUT THE CENTER

Mercer University School of Medicine’s Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center was established to address the complex healthcare challenges and disparities faced by rural communities throughout the state. The School of Medicine boasts a longstanding commitment to serving rural Georgia’s health needs, with a mission to educate physicians dedicated to tackling the health challenges in rural Georgia. The Rural Health Innovation Center serves as a critical resource to rural communities to improve access and effectiveness of healthcare by offering research, collaboration and training opportunities.

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