Home > Business Insider > Archives > 2008 > May > 01
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Atlantans and Grady Hospital can learn from Denver’s experience
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ten years ago, Denver’s city-owned hospital was $39 million in debt. The city had not increased its support to the public hospital in years. A drastic change was needed.
So Patricia Gabow, who was running the hospital for the city, convinced the then-mayor of Denver that it needed to be turned over to a not-for-profit authority.
Gabow recalled those days when she talked to Atlanta’s LINK delegation that hopes to gain insight from Denver’s experiences as it tries to cope with many of the same issues.
“The Denver Health Center is the equivalent of our Grady Hospital,” said Chick Krautler, director of the Atlanta Regional Commission, who called to give me a report of the day’s sessions. “It’s the trauma care hospital for most of the state. And it is the hospital for the uninsured.”
But there, the similarity stops. Today, the Denver Health Center operates in the black by offering a host of services that generate money for the hospital.
“They have just become extraordinarily entrepreneurial,” Krautler said. “The amount of money they get from the city has not changed, but the revenue has quadrupled in the last 10 years.”
Krautler said the state also doesn’t provide direct operational funds for the hospital, a point of which Mark Burkhalter, Georgia’s speaker pro tem took special note.
The Denver hospital runs the 911 system; it owns the ambulance and EMS systems; it has created a trauma care center in Vail, where people with means can pay their medical costs; it has four clinics in schools, among other money-making ventures.
As a result, Gabow said Denver’s Health Center has the lowest mortality rate among the nation’s 120 teaching hospitals.
But it did implement one restriction. An uninsured patient who lives outside the city or county of Denver will not be treated unless it’s an emergency.
The metro Atlanta delegation also heard from Peter Binney, director of the Aurora Water Department, to get ideas on how to deal with the drought and water shortages.
According to Krautler, Binney’s bottom line was: “You can’t wait for politicians to make decisions because they won’t get made. The individual stakeholders need to get together to figure out a solution that works for every one.”
Binney also said: “You can’t conserve your way out of a drought.”
Denver faced a severe drought 20 years ago that emptied reservoirs and left the population feeling unprepared. Since then, Denver has been trying to be better prepared by securing enough water so it could withstand a future drought.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment |
Elizabeth Edwards Speaks of her own Mortality
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former presidential candidate John Edwards, stayed far away from politics today when she spoke to the Women, Power and Peace conference at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Instead, Edwards, who was re-diagnosed with cancer a year ago, talked about how women need to take pleasure in the ordinary moments of every day.
“The only thing we are promised is the moment,” Edwards said, adding that women should always look for “do-overs” in life.
But then she poignantly added: “I may have run out of time for my own do-overs.”
Edwards also urged women attending the 11th annual Possible Woman Leadership Conference to not focus on material success. Instead, the real pleasure in life is reaching out to others.
“I believe we are always stronger and better if we lend our strength to others, but more importantly, if we accept the strength from others,” Edwards said. “But one thing that doesn’t make us stronger is to die with the most toys.”
Before taking questions, Edwards immediately cut off the most obvious one, by saying: “I’m not endorsing a candidate (for president) so you can stop that one.”
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |
Commerce Club board meets; Decides to study move to the 191 building; Passes resolution honoring Ron Brown
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Commerce Club board decided today to take the next step on a possible merger with the 191 Club and a possible move five blocks north.
David Ratcliffe, CEO of the Southern Co. who chairs the Commerce Club board, said there was consensus that the option should be studied in depth.
“Everybody is excited about moving forward with a thorough analysis,” Ratcliffe said. A decision could come in the fall.
The Commerce Club board also passed a resolution in honor of fellow director Ron Brown, CEO of Atlanta Life Financial Group, who passed away on Monday.
“With profound sadness, we record the inestimable loss of our dear friend and fellow director, Ronald D. Brown….,” the resolution read that as recognized Brown as “a businessman with unparalleled leadership qualities.”
Brown, 54, became a member of the Commerce Club in 2004 and was elected to the prominent board in August, 2007.
As they were leaving the meeting, auto dealer Juanita Baranco and Bank of America’s Milton Jones said Brown’s sudden death was a reminder to appreciate every day.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment |
Denver’s Mayor Welcomes Atlanta’s LINK
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At a dinner Wednesday evening, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper told about 110 metro Atlanta leaders that he has worked hard to build regional cooperation.
Sam Olens, who chairs the Atlanta Regional Commssion and the Cobb Commission, call me to recap the evening.
“The mayor is very unassuming, very relaxed and informal,” Ollens said. “He talked about how he wanted to change the mindset among the various cities competing with each other.”
One way was how Mayor Hickenlooper featured communities from throughout Denver’s region at the city of Denver’s airport.
Hickenlooper also spoke glowingly of Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, who he described as one of the best mayor’s in America, according to Olens.
But Mayor Franklin wasn’t in Denver to hear his compliments. Olens told the Denver mayor that Franklin had a schedule conflict. In fact, Franklin has been in Atlanta working on the city’s budget crisis. This is the first LINK trip Franklin has missed since she’s been mayor.
The Denver mayor was asked what keeps him up at night, and he talked about the city’s hosting of the Democratic National Convention this summer. Not only does Denver want to be a good host, it wants to be sure there are no major security issues or disrupting protests.
Saying it was still early to know what lessons the group was learning, Olens has been most intrigued with how the Denver metro counties have financed arts, culture and transportation initiatives.
Instead of passing a full one penny sales tax for each initiative, the Denver counties will vote a 10th of a penny tax for arts and culture or four-tenths of a penny tax for transit. By splitting up the penny tax, regional counties are more willing to participate; and voters are more willing to vote yes.
Olens said that he believes it would require new state legislation in Georgia to be able to pass a fraction of a penny tax.
The LINK group will hear how Denver was able to survive a major crisis of its public hospital 10 years ago. All those lessons will help Atlantans figure out how to get its own Grady Hospital through its current crisis.
The LINK folks also will hear about how Colorado has dealt with decades of drought, also appropriate lessons for the Atlanta region and Georgia.
