Grady Memorial Hospital officials on Monday set a target date of May 20 to transfer control of the hospital to a nonprofit corporation — unless something comes up.

The heads of the old Grady board and the new nonprofit both agreed to the date for changeover in control.

But even this late in the process — after a year of negotiations and both sides having signed the changeover agreement — some outstanding issues remain.

Pam Stephenson, the head of the old Grady board, said that board is concerned about the amount of funding that the state will provide Grady.

Grady board members had expected the transfer of control would be met with additional long-term state aid for statewide trauma care, some of which would go to Grady. But the state Legislature recently ended its session without approving long-term trauma funding.

"One of the big issues is the state's failure to fund trauma care," Stephenson said.

The state Legislature did, however, approve a one-time allocation of $58 million for trauma care hospitals across the state.

The state trauma commission is expected on May 15 to divvy up that amount, and Stephenson wants to make sure Grady gets its fair share.

On May 19, the old Grady board will meet and discuss whether the state allocation is sufficient to allow the transfer of power to commence.

It is unclear what action the board may take if it is not satisfied with the allocation.

Pete Correll, the chairman of the new Grady nonprofit, said he does not believe the state allocation should be an issue that could hold up the changeover. He said there was no firm commitment of state funding tied to the transfer of control.

He said the commitment that was made — for $200 million in philanthropic aid — is being fulfilled by the Woodruff Foundation. But he cautioned that in order for the first $50 million of that to be delivered, Woodruff has said it wants the transfer of control at the hospital to occur by the end of the month.

"We're going to do our best to get it done," Correll said.