J. Ray Grant Jr., MD Joins River Edge Behavioral Health Center

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Monroe County native Dr. J. Ray Grant has joined River Edge Behavioral Health Center as the new medical director.  Grant earned his degree at the Emory University School of Medicine and trained in family medicine at Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, VA.  He brings more than 35 years’ experience to his position with River Edge.

Grant is proud his roots run deep in central Georgia.  “I’ve lived in Monroe County my entire life except the 11 years of college and residency,” he stated.

His wife, Leigh, is a nurse with the Monroe County school system.  Together,  they have three daughters and twin sons—all adult—and two small grandchildren.

His oldest daughter Jessica, born with Down’s syndrome, exhibits the mantra River Edge lives by:  “We don’t see disabilities.  We see different abilities.”  She has flourished in the community through volunteering with Meals on Wheels and her church and helping to run the Grant household.   

In fact, Dr. Grant commented, “I am now working three days a week in a building constructed 30 years ago while I was chairman of the Monroe County Board of Health, and for an organization and in a building that served my daughter, Jessica, as a preschooler.”  He went on to say, “Perhaps it is not a coincidence that last summer, when the possibility of coming to River Edge at this point in my career arose, circumstances materialized to make it a reality.”

Dr. Grant enjoys gardening and “light” tractor work and, in his heart, seems more a tour guide,  storyteller and music connoisseur.  He voiced great pleasure at becoming part of the River Edge team saying, “I would like to think that Divine intervention led me to work at River Edge… I am delighted to be here.”