The Healing Blueprint: How River Edge Reimagined Behavioural Health

Pineapple’s Daniel White hosts an exploration of the River Edge Behavioral Health Center: a place where architecture and empathy work hand in hand, and the built environment becomes an agent of healing within the community. 

With guests Greta O’Dell, River Edge’s Chief Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Officer, and Rachel Azar, Project Manager at Azar + Walsh Architects, Daniel explores how this new 34,000-square-foot facility in Macon, Georgia, has embraced a therapeutic approach to design, prioritizing calm, patient dignity, and safety in every detail, from spatial layout and lighting to materials and outdoor access. And you’ll hear how these intentional choices have gone beyond aesthetics to shape behavior, support recovery, and deliver measurable, positive outcomes for service users and staff alike.

Together, they explore how rethinking the environment of care can lead to more humane experiences and why River Edge is becoming a model for behavioral health facilities nationwide.

Our Guests: 

Greta O’Dell, B.S. NADD-DDS, CACTS

Chief Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Office, River Edge

Greta has worked at River Edge for 30 years, and over the last 13 years, her passion for serving people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities has exploded with opportunities to advocate and support. She was named 2007 River Edge Employee of the Year, 2015 American Red Cross Home Town Hero – Special Needs Advocate and 2023 DBHDD Champion of Hope.

She co-represents GACSB IDD committee participating in DBHDD Workforce Development Committee.  Out of this committee work, she has been asked spearhead the creation of an apprenticeship program with Georgia Department of Labor for DBHDD.

Greta received her Bachelor of Science in Public Service Human Services from Macon State College. She is a Certified At-Risk Adult Crime Tactic Specialist to advocate for the state’s most vulnerable population and to provide abuse, neglect and exploitation education to others. Greta is a Dual Diagnosis Specialist, certified through NADD (National Association for those with mental illness and IDD) and serves as co-chair of the accreditation committee.

Rachel Azar, Associate AIA, LEED AP BD+C

Project Manager, Azar Walsh Architects 

Rachel Azar is a Project Manager at Azar Walsh Architects in Macon, Georgia, with a passion for designing spaces that support behavioral health and community well-being. She leads projects ranging from intimate tiny home communities to large-scale recovery centers, with the goal of serving the behavioral health community with dignity, care, and purpose.

Her ability to manage and design these sensitive projects is built on a broad foundation of experience across healthcare, education, government, religious, corporate, and mixed-use sectors. This includes her prior role as a civilian Architectural project manager with the 78th Civil Engineering Group at Robins Air Force Base, where she led secure, mission-driven projects requiring precision and adaptability. In her current role, Rachel brings this technical rigor and empathetic design approach to every behavioral health project, creating environments that foster healing and reflect each client’s unique vision.

This episode is hosted by Pineapple, creators of mindfully designed furniture for behavioral and mental health environments.