Georgia Nurse Creates First-Ever Mobile Tiny Home Psychiatric Clinic

Dr. Joanne McDougal Patterson, a psychiatric nurse practitioner and entrepreneur, has launched Georgia’s first tiny home mobile mental health clinic to provide citizens with mental healthcare right at their doorstep.

According to Black News, the little house clinic provides a pleasant and cozy environment, similar to a residential setting, where patients, particularly women and children, can receive specialized therapy. It measures 22 feet long by 8.5 feet broad by 13.5 feet high.

“This is the first of its kind in the state,” Patterson told Atlanta News First. “As far as psychiatry, this is the first tiny home mental health clinic, I think, not just Georgia but ever,” she expressed.

Patterson stated that when working as an OB nurse many years ago, she noticed that many postpartum women were not receiving the care they required. Despite the fact that postpartum depression and other difficulties were on the rise, there was no one to turn to.

She added that she chose a job in mental health in order to focus on reproductive mental health and later welcome children whose mothers also suffer from postpartum depression. Patterson claims she has a PhD in nursing practice, indicating she is not a medical doctor.

The mother and entrepreneur added that she was also inspired to create a mobile mental health clinic following the pandemic in 2020. “In COVID, the numbers surged with the need for mental health care, because of the stressors of losing jobs and losing loved ones,” she claimed.

She devised her plan in order for everyone, particularly the poor, to have access to mental health care. The mobile clinic will be stationed in specific areas of Gwinnett and DeKalb Counties, with a focus on northeast Georgia.

She also mentioned that the organization will be collaborating with people and groups this month to have the mobile mental health clinic stationed in particular locations. “We’re hoping to really make sure that we are stationed at schools. So that way, moms don’t have to disrupt their workday to take their kids out of school. The kids can be seen right here in the mobile mental health clinic, and moms can log in virtually so that we’re all hearing and seeing the same thing,” she said.

Patterson also founded the ReLeaf Boutique, a herbal apothecary devoted to promoting mental wellbeing and allowing people to take charge of their own mental health.

Patterson also provides virtual visits for individuals in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Florida, and Nevada to provide accessibility.

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