Ep 141: Mercer University Launches Comprehensive Health Center to Advance Care for Adults with IDD

This interview features Dr. Jonathan Smith, who discusses the launch of a new, mission‑driven health center under Mercer University focused on providing comprehensive, integrated care for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Georgia. Dr. Smith explains that the center aims to address longstanding health disparities through coordinated, under‑one‑roof services—including primary care, behavioral health, therapies, dentistry, pharmacy, and diagnostics—while also serving as an educational hub to better train medical students and community clinicians in IDD care. Influenced by both his medical background and his personal experience as a parent of a child with Down syndrome, Dr. Smith emphasizes three key priorities for improving outcomes for people with IDD: stronger coordination of care across systems, reducing barriers within insurance and waiver programs, and reforming medical education to include IDD care earlier and more meaningfully, with the ultimate goal of improving health equity, patient experience, and long‑term outcomes. https://medicine.mercer.edu/idd-care/