Georgia Mental Health Institute

The Georgia Mental Health Institute (GMHI) was a psychiatric hospital which operated from 1965 to 1997 near Emory University in Druid Hills near Atlanta, Georgia. It was located on the grounds of the Briarcliff Estate, the former residence of Asa G. Candler, Jr., the son of the founder of Coca-Cola.

Georgia Mental Health Institute
State of Georgia
GMHI in 2018
Geography
Location	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Coordinates	33°47′18.8″N 84°20′32.6″W
Organization
Funding	Government, Non-profit
Type	Specialist
Affiliated university	Emory University
Services
Specialty	Psychiatric hospital, Teaching hospital
Helipad	No
History
Opened	1965
Closed	1997
Links
Lists	Hospitals in Georgia

History

Emory and the state of Georgia jointly developed the GMHI.^[1] Emory doctors provided some of the mental health services at GMHI, and some residents and fellows received part of their training in psychiatry there. Emory also had its own pediatric psychiatric outpatient programs based at the facility. The university also had 10 faculty scientists conducting 18 research studies at GMHI, focused on mental health, brain and central nervous system diseases. At its closing it had 141 beds and a $24.5 million budget. Due to rising costs, the Georgia Department of Human Resources proposed that the hospital close. They decided that they could send GMHI patients to other hospitals nearby and use the $24.5 million budget in other community mental health services.^[2]

After the institute closed, the 42 acre campus was purchased by Emory University from the state of Georgia for US$2.9 million.^[3] The university planned to turn the property into a biotechnology research and business development center.^[3] Unofficially the campus was referred to as "Emory West", and the university considered either renovating the existing 17 buildings or constructing new ones.^[1] Plans for the second campus were scaled back after faculty expressed a desire to remain at the main campus, but the university still planned to build the EmTech Bio Sciences Center as of 2000.^[4]

In 2022, Emory University leased the property for 99 years to a private developer, Galerie Living who plans to build on the property a senior living community. Due to that, all former hospital buildings on the campus will be demolished.^[5]

In film

The Netflix series "Stranger Things" used the Georgia Mental Health Institute as a filming location for the in-universe location "Hawkins National Laboratory".^[6]

The Institute also appears in Alex Garland's Civil War, where it is the scene of a fight between militiamen and loyalists.

References

1. Marcus, Morton J.; Rogers, Carol O. (July 1998). "Indiana Business Review update". Indiana Business Review. 73 (7): 1.
2. Wrobel, Sylvia (November 10, 1997). "Emory considering possibilities if state closes mental health institute". Emory Report. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
3. Barry, Tom (1 November 1998). "Johns ahead of schedule in realizing promise to 'transform Emory'". Georgia Trend. p. 28.
4. Gleason, Jan. "Timetable modified for Emory West campus". Emory Report. Emory University.
5. Rodney Ho (September 10, 2022). "Atlanta building that was Hawkins lab in 'Stranger Things' will be torn down". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
6. "Georgia Locations for Netflix's 'Stranger Things'". Deep South Magazine. Deep South Media. July 28, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2017. Georgia's small towns outside of Atlanta, including Douglasville, Conyers, Jackson, Winston and Fayetteville, easily pass for the Midwest, and Jackson's intact downtown isn't a far stretch from 1983 Hawkins on film.

External links

• Ben Miller, "Faded Treatment: The Georgia Mental Health Institute 10 Years After Closing", Reading On, Emory University
• "Emory considering possibilities if state closes mental health institute", Emory Report, Emory University, November 10, 1997
• "Neighborhood character: Becoming Briarcliff Campus", Emory Magazine, Emory University, Autumn 2011 Archived 2011-10-30 at the Wayback Machine
• Photoset of tunnels