Home > Thinking Right > Archives > 2007 > September > 26 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USGrady Hospital: Save or close?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Consider this a sampling of the Internet community. The issue is Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown Atlanta, a facility in perpetual crisis. In the pre-Medicaid world, it was in crisis. In the pre-Medicare world, it was. And before the existence of PeachCare, a program that provides top-drawer insurance coverage to children in families with incomes of up to $48,000 a year, it was in crisis.
Nowadays most everybody elderly or poor, except for illegals, single men and some who choose not to buy insurance, have a government funding stream attached to them. And yet, Grady still can’t make available revenues cover its costs.
State Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah), the top-ranking member of the Georgia State Senate, caused a stir among the “save Grady” advocates Tuesday by suggesting that Grady’s closing would not be the disaster that others are asserting. “Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if it did go under,” he said at the Capitol. “Maybe the phoenix that would rise in its place would be better than the hospital that’s there now.”
Johnson said he was just “thinking out loud,” but he believes the marketplace will fill the void.
Johnson’s observations are worth considering. I’ve no doubt that with the shootings, stabbings and wrecks in Grady’s coverage area, a real need does exist for its trauma center. That center could be jointly owned, and perhaps staffed, by other hospitals without Level 1 units. Grady’s trauma center would be a central location where patients could be stabilized and then transported to the hospital of their choice. If they wished to remain at a dramatically downsized Grady, they could. The same model would apply to its burn center.
Most of the rest of Grady could become a pure charity hospital and clinic for preventive care and for the treatment of minor ailments.
Some audience sampling questions, though. How closely are you following the Grady story? How important is its “survival” in something akin to the model that exists now? Would you pay $1 a month to “save” Grady? Is Grady the state’s problem? And finally, what do you believe Grady’s problem or problems to be?
Comments
By Jeff
September 26, 2007 8:53 AM | Link to this
Following: mildly. I’m probably more conversant in it than most, but I’m nowhere NEAR knowing all the particulars.
Importance of “survival” in current model: Only for black politicians who can continue to use it as a political ploy.
Would I pay: Hades NO.
State problem: Virtually NOTHING that concerns metro Atlanta exclusively - as Grady does - is a STATE problem.
Grady’s problem: Black politicians using it for political gain.
By Analchord
September 26, 2007 9:03 AM | Link to this
Phoenix….Burn Center
I liked it.
Well organized. Brief. Few distracting eddies of couched qualifiers. overall a fine effort.
If Grady were an animal hospital, would we be arguing about it? What if a stray cat got run over by a hummer? Where would that poor cat go? Grady.
But injured, maimed, burned, or dismembered people should just have a little medical kit in thier cars. It’s amazing what one or two well placed bandaids will do. Hell, a little castor oil and you’re good to go.
The indians didn’t have no trauma centers and they did just fine, thank you. Look at the tribes we keep unearthing in the rain forest. They dont have no burn centers. They are as healthy as the monkeys they eat, and as happy as the plant-derived drugs they hallucinate with.
No, no, no, I gotta go with Wooten: Physician Heal thyself; Patient Heal thyself. Nurse heal thyself. Cat heal thyself. Monkey heal thyself.
I get it. I think I get it.
By Curious Observer
September 26, 2007 9:06 AM | Link to this
Although the loss of Grady as a trauma and physician training center would be large, perhaps spreading out the burden of treating the indigent would be fairer, rather than foisting it off on Fulton and DeKalb counties.
The law says that hospitals must treat patients, regardless of the ability to pay. So let Emory, Scottish Rite, Northside, and other hospitals assume the financial burden. State legislators and conservatives are fond of accusing Grady of financial mismanagement—as though it’s possible to balance a budget when 70 percent of the patients are unable to pay anything for their medical care. So let the well-heeled hospitals start doing their share of treatment for these patients. You can bet that the state legislators will be hearing from those affluent institutions soon enough.
I’m sick of the power struggle about Grady. The existing entrenched board doesn’t want to relinquish control of the institution. The state legislature doesn’t want to come up with any additional money to help; instead, legislators keep spouting nonsense about how a non-profit board would somehow solve all the financial woes of Grady.
As a taxpayer who sees a hefty chunk of his county property taxes going to fund Grady every year, while other parts of the state send patients but never any money, I’m ready to see Grady fold. Let those patients whom Grady treats start flooding the emergency rooms of other hospitals. The poor will still get their treatment—although the most expensive kind. Other hospitals will start a howl that will reverberate though the caverns of the gold dome.
Then, and only then, you can bet that the state legislature will come up with a funding solution to treating the poor soon enough.
By jbmlaw
September 26, 2007 9:20 AM | Link to this
Good morning all. I have only the most-superficial acquaintance with the Grady story. The concept of “importance of survival” of a corporate entity is an oxymoron. While I generally oppose the murder of corporate entities by government – a frequent occurrence – death by “lack of subsidy” is in a different class. I would not pay a penny/year to save Grady, and it is a “problem” only for its hapless employees. Grady’s problem is a “welfare or entitlement mentality;” nothing like a market solution to cure such.
By @@
September 26, 2007 9:20 AM | Link to this
Sure Jim, I’d pay a dollar a month, but they’d have to agree to never return for more. Do-overs aren’t my thang.
Maybe if they closed it, the shootings and stabbings would stop out of concern that there was no care readily available for treatment.
‘Ya think? Naaaahhhhh that would require concern and compassion.
By Osama Bin Laden
September 26, 2007 9:33 AM | Link to this
Entitlements are what felled Rome!
Let Grady die… the market will fill in the RX vacuum with a centrifugal force of goodwill that is 100 thousand times the force of poverty and disease.
Entitlements? I dont mean no-bid contracts that enrich truck drivers in Baghdad. I mean free government cheese for starving children. Shelters for homeless peoples who deserve to freeze to death in the winter simply because they are lazy losers who should have worked a little harder.
Entitlements are what brought down might rome. Lets not make the same mistakes. More money for Iraq!
More money for Iraq! More money for Iraq!!
By Dusty
September 26, 2007 9:34 AM | Link to this
I don’t know, Jim. The thought of closing Grady is scary even though I have never been a patient there.
But it is kinda like throwing away the life preservers at the swimming pool. You may not need them now but when you’re drowning, they come in handy.
As to Preventive Care, many of Grady’s patients are beyond preventive care. County clinics almost everywhere are into “preventive care”, Trauma centers are the great need.
I don’t see many hospitals in this state anxious to take on the costly, around the clock setups vital to actual trauma response. We either pay for that kind of care or we die in our wrecks, fires and heart attacks with only paramedics to treat us. I don’t know any way to operate a cheap trauma center. Sadly, I know of no miracle way to fund one either.
By WTF
September 26, 2007 9:42 AM | Link to this
Perhaps I’m not exactly clear about Grady’s role — I’m sure someone here will correct me if I’m not! - but isn’t it the only public hospital in the Atlanta area, meaning that it is the only hospital obligated to treat patients? Obviously Grady has some serious issues, but what would happen to people who are going to be turned away by Emory, Piedmont, or Northside? Then again, maybe I just don’t know how the system works since I’m fortunate enough to have a good healthcare plan.
By Osama Bin Laden
September 26, 2007 9:49 AM | Link to this
No free healthcare.
If someone is sick, then Allah wants them beheaded, simple as pie.
Convert to Islam, or be denied healthcare, America!!!
Dont preserve Grady. Let it go. No healthcare is good. I’ll say it again. No healthcare, for lack of a better word, is good. No healthcare is cheap, no healthcare works, no healthcare is necessary for no-bid contracts in Iraq to work.
No healthcare for nobody. It’s good.
By decaturparent
September 26, 2007 9:54 AM | Link to this
Why not have each county pay based on its actual use - averaged over the previous 10 years. That way everyone pays fairly for Grady. I am sure that Cobb, Gwinnett and Clayton use Grady just as much as Fulton and DeKalb.
Alternatively, Grady could just start rerouting anyone who is not from DeKalb or Fulton.
By Jeff
September 26, 2007 10:00 AM | Link to this
decaturparent:
Ah, but people of Fulton and DeKalb use hospitals in Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton just as much as - if not more than - the people of those counties use Grady.
Kinda blows a hole in your “actual use” theory, eh?
By GreyGayGeek
September 26, 2007 10:13 AM | Link to this
Jeff @ 10:00 - However, those Fultonians and DeKalbians using the hospitals in “outher counties” are overwhelmingly insured and can make sure payment is made for anyservices rendered. Which is not the case with the Gwinnettians, the Cobbites, etc., who end up at Grady because they can’t be turned away.
By Redneck Convert
September 26, 2007 10:19 AM | Link to this
Well, I don’t know what happened to peoples common sense.
Us godly Republicans are losing elections. Why? More and more of Those People and the Mexicans are voting for librul democrats.
Why is there more and more of Those People and the Mexicans to vote for librul democrats? We give them free doctoring and they live longer.
So if you want godly Republicans to keep running this country, stop giving free doctoring to Those People and the Mexicans. They will start dying off and we will outnumber them.
We can start by getting rid of Grady and PeachCare. Then our fine Sens. Chambliss and Isakson can start working on getting rid of Medicaid. Pretty soon Those People and the Mexicans will be too sick or dead to vote.
With another godly Republican in the White House and Congress in the hands of godly Republicans again, we can just watch Those People and the Mexicans return to God instead of clogging up the polls. Let God give them free doctoring. We won’t.
Anyway, this seems to be a better way than just ignoring the problem like people like jbmlaw does with his “not one penny.”
Like I said before, we need to use some good GA common sense to deal with the problem of Grady and other welfare handouts.
Have a good day everybody. And you are welcome.
By stuffedshirt
September 26, 2007 10:22 AM | Link to this
I find it amazing that a graduate of one of the easiest programs on a college campus presumes to tell graduates on one of the most difficult majors on campus just how to run their business. When one buys their ink by the railroad tanker load, one has a bigger bullhorn, but the words are not more intelligent nor more thought out. The problem at Grady is not the docs, it is the stuffed suits with BA, or MBA, or MPH after their names who are just sucking the life blood from the hospital system. Fire all the non medical people, sub contract patient billing and collections to say Wellstar Kennestone, and stop paying the board of directors anything for their worthless dis service. Let the MDs run the place, firing insubordant staff on the first act of insubordanation, failure to perform, or attitude problem. Do not let journalism graduates have any say what so ever in the running of the hospital. As a matter of fact, ban the distribution or possession of the ajc anywhere on hospital property.
By Dusty
September 26, 2007 10:29 AM | Link to this
I have heard through many channels certain facts I believe to be true.
Almost ALL hospitals have “write-offs” included in their budgets. That is the amount of money that they do not think they will receive because the patients did not/could not pay. You could call that charity but not by choice.
As to Grady and other counties, I believe Grady instituted this policy. If an emergency patient needs to be hospitalized after ER treatment and that uninsured patient does not live in Fulton or DeKalb, that patient will be transported to a hospital in the county of his residence if possible.
Perhaps someone in the business of hospital administration could give us information on such policies.
By tiem for the harsh realistic truth
September 26, 2007 10:31 AM | Link to this
Make the free loading blacks and illegal leeches PAY for ALL their abusive cynical usage - or deny them treatment!! NO MORE free anchor baby deliveries for illegal leeches!!
Just go down there and see who is using and abusing the place day after day after day. Aside from innocent car accident victims and burns/fire victims who cannot help their fate and the daily stroke/heart attack - or some kind of serious emergency case victims most of the rest of the human detritus down there are just freeloading parasites who know they won’t be turned away.
The generations of systematic grasping free loading down at Grady is beyond disgusting. Why should taxpayers have to pay for the countless freeloading blacks WHO ARE EASILY THE WORST OFFENDERS and illegals to use the place. Same for whites and everyone else too. NO ONE should get a free ride with the level of medical fees extortion being perpetrated these days. Its NOT the free market that’s mainly responsible but the scumbag liberal trial lawyers ensuring their grasping venal snouts are everywhere easy big money can be made at the expense of those who are suffering/have suffered and the rest of us who have to pay the passed on ludicrous defensive medical insurance premiums.
Keep the trauma centre open for innocent victims of crime and accidents/fires etc. But find some way to make the black thugs and gangbanging thugs to pay IN FULL for their treatment for the shootings/stabbings they gleefully perpetrate - mostly on one another!!
Close the rest of Grady down NOW!!
By stuffedshirt
September 26, 2007 10:31 AM | Link to this
Excuse me, but wellstar kennestone hospitals emergency department if far busier than gradys er, as a matter of fact kennestone is the busiest er in the state of georgia, and the sixth busiest in the nation by visits. As for the poor, just sit in the lobby for a few hours if you can find a seat next to the poor hispanics, african americans, tatooed ex con white trash, and the preppy girls soccer players and their rich moms and dads. Kennestone services both the rich and the poor, the ugly and the beautiful, the paying and the non paying. If you have assets, I guarantee the hospital billing department will collect.
By jbmlaw
September 26, 2007 10:35 AM | Link to this
I just had a couple of alternative and brilliant solutions to the Grady disaster: (1) instead of enslaving all taxpayers to ensure provision of free care for derelicts, let’s just select a few unluckies at random and compel them to provide health services for the freeloaders; or (2) set up a machine-gunner at the entrance of the emergency room, to greet new customers.
By Warrior Woman
September 26, 2007 10:50 AM | Link to this
The Level 1 Trauma Center is much needed, as is the burn unit. The state should consider supporting those two functions.
The rest of the hospital should fend for itself, or be supported only by Fulton and DeKalb. Believe me, the hospitals in surrounding counties are serving their share of indigents and non-payers. Those counties don’t need to support Atlanta’s indigents as well.
By Dusty
September 26, 2007 10:52 AM | Link to this
I do not care for waste, human parasites of any kind, or poverty. But when I think of Grady, I think there is a human level for which we should extend care and that care is offered at Grady.
I believe that level of which I speak includes the elderly poor who worked hard in low paying jobs all their lives. Now they are stricken with debiitating diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, cardiac, kidney and lung failure. I cannot see casting them aside as unworthy.
Perhaps children of the very poor, although without as many health problems, must have care. We are not yet at the levels of Indian slum care which seems to be zero.
Our government has tried but stretched the “poor” into middle class. They therefore upset the system and now the cry goes up for everyone, rich or poor, to have “free” (taxpayer paid) healthcare.
That loss of independence is a loss for all Americans. Take care of the real poor. The rest should take care of themselves.
By Osama Bin Laden
September 26, 2007 11:01 AM | Link to this
I second jbm’s solution, even though I know it’s probably a troll hijacking his ID.
A machine pistol would solve the problem, but where would we take those people we just shot? Surely some would survive, like Rasputin, who endured dozens of gunshot wounds, and just wouldn’t die, until they threw him in the river, and even then he floated for thirteen hours, in ice water, fending off sharks and spear fisherman, before succumbing.
I dont know, just close grady, and open a hostile hostel in which the poor check in but they dont check out, (wink).
We do have a surplus population, and it is getting near christmas…..decreasing the surplus population is my favorite christmas carol…….
By JK
September 26, 2007 11:03 AM | Link to this
Yaawwwwwn! Another day of “poor people s—k” and “it’s broke, so let’s do away with it because fixing it isn’t my problem” and “I am not my neighbor’s keeper!” from the good, God-fearing, keep-your-hands-off-of-my-stack conservatrons who claim they follow Christ. Uh-huh. If they can’t produce an insurance card, then let them suffer and infect others before they die, right Jesus ol’ boy?
Tough love, tough medicine, tough luck to you all when you bleed to death on the Connector, and there’s no Grady trauma docs to be found.
By jbm is a condescending...
September 26, 2007 11:07 AM | Link to this
Har, Har,Hardy har har, jbm. Lovely “modest solutions” to a real problem. But that’s okay, it’s more fun to think of killing uninsured patients than helping them. That sort of sums up the Republican approach to healthcare.
By the way, why insult the employees of Grady as “hapless”?
By Osama Bin Laden
September 26, 2007 11:16 AM | Link to this
What is the mission of Blackwater mercenaries in Iraq?
Will Blackwater follow us home? What will their mission be then?
Anyone see a problem with the Blackwater mercenaries?
By Osama Bin Laden
September 26, 2007 11:20 AM | Link to this
What is the mission of Blackwater mercenaries in Iraq?
.
.
.
.
.
WhatisthemissionofBlackwaterMercenariesinIraq?
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
What is the mission of Blackwater Mercenaries in Iraq? Will they follow us home? What’s their mission here at home?
. . . .
.
.
.
.
What is the mission of Blackwater mercenaries in Iraq?
By getalife
September 26, 2007 11:25 AM | Link to this
Save.
Stupid question.
Moron.
By time for the harsh but impartial truth
September 26, 2007 11:27 AM | Link to this
DERANGED FEMINAZI ALERT!!!
who claim they follow Christ. Uh-huh. If they can’t produce an insurance card, then let them suffer and infect others before they die, right Jesus ol’ boy?
I follow England and a medium sized football club in the East Midlands honey bunch!!
More sick and twisted barefaced UNHINGED LIES from the execrable demented feminazi JK!!
Jesus is at best dead - killed by imperious colonialist Italians as it gave them something to do over Easter which was purely a so called ‘pagan’ festival!! … the chances “he” actually existed are close to neglible!! See reams of historical proof. It’s an uber zealous contradictory ‘composite’ puked up by anal seriously bewildered religious jews desperate to impose their version of the charismatic jew on the so called holy land - and beyond!!
compounded by the genocidal fascistic hysteria of the crusading papists and the rest!!
god is NOT GREAT by Christopher Hitchens
BOOK OF THE YEAR THUS FAR FOLKS!!
By Osama Bin Laden
September 26, 2007 11:38 AM | Link to this
What is the mission of Blackwater in Iraq?
By Osama Bin Laden
September 26, 2007 11:45 AM | Link to this
What if Blackwater follows us home from Iraq? Who will hire them and for what purpose?
By getalife
September 26, 2007 11:46 AM | Link to this
The corporate utopia agenda of globalization was for greed.
It hurts the people like Nafta and a big mistake. Perot was right.
The gop wants to continue this mistake because it benifits their donors.
The gop do not care about the people. Period.
Until the gop is dealt with, the destruction of this country will continue.
Sadly, there are many dems that have joined them.
Hence, the need for term limits, tight ethics and morals and government reform.
It is broken.
Louisiana has recognized this corrupt, broken system and is trying to fix it.
It could be the model for Washington but needs a strong leader. Jindell is a wingnut and not that person.
Which candidate is talking about government reform?
Clinton, of course.
By Blackwater's CEO - a merciless killer of towel heads
September 26, 2007 11:49 AM | Link to this
By Osama Bin Laden September 26, 2007 11:38 AM What is the mission of Blackwater in Iraq?
to effortlessly confound demented anal liberal cut and run obsessives and gleefully manipulate them into ENDLESSLY puking up typical WITLESS meaningless liberal bollocks in cyber space!!
By jbmlaw
September 26, 2007 11:50 AM | Link to this
Dear Condescending @ 11:07, your lack of economics shows: “that’s okay, it’s more fun to think of killing uninsured patients than helping them.” You mean to say, “it’s more fun to think of enslaving taxpayers and paying medical bureaucrats, than making them earn their way in the world.” Unlike you, I hold utter contempt for corporate welfare.
By JustMe
September 26, 2007 11:51 AM | Link to this
The problem is that what is supposed to be a local hospital has become a State hospital. In addition, there has most certainly been mis-management of funds.
Close Grady? That really doesn’t make sense. The building, the equipment, etc. is too great to simply close the doors….. not to mention the training for new doctors, etc.
I am more for a forced change in management to start. The current management has proven to be ineffective - get rid of them. What should they be replaced with? Whoever it is needs to be honest with good morals and ethics! I know it’s hard to find folks like this in today’s world, but they gotta be around here some where!
What about payments? IMHO, as long as Grady is more like a State hospital, serving patients from all over the State, why not have the State pay for at least a portion of it? We should see a breakdown of patients and where they live and appropriate costs accordingly. It is crazy for DeKalb and Fulton to pay for 100% of it.
For those that say other hospitals also serve patients from other areas, that may be true. But it is not at all on the same scale as Grady - and that is the problem here.
By Osama Bin Laden
September 26, 2007 11:51 AM | Link to this
Sir wipesalot: Quit double spacing every sentence, you Blackwater supporter. YOu like Blackwater, I just know it, and guess what, smarty wank, Blackwater’s gonna follow us home and probably clobber us, you goofball.
How is Blackwater organized? What privileges will they have smuggling their weapons out of Iraq and into the USA?
Anyone watching Blackwater? Anyone but cheney?
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 11:52 AM | Link to this
Jeff,
My, your comments are even more egregious than usual. Have you been spending quality time with TFTT at the state hospital (ironically enough)?
While Fulton and Dekalb residents may take advantage of other area hospitals, I imagine the majority of those folks are showing up with insurance. Not so with Grady, which services people living througout the Atlanta MSA.
That’s 15 counties, at last count. All of which send their most terribly injured trauma/burn patients. In addition, Grady takes on a preponderance of the poor/uninsured as well. Someone’s got to treat these people, and I don’t think you’re wife would much appreciate having to wait her turn at Northside.
I know you want to blame the problem on “black politicians” (and then immediately say you’re not being racist), but it’s really about supply and demand.
A major hospital that currently services an area with six million people in it is currently being funded by two counties with about two million residents.
Doing the math shouldn’t be terribly difficult for you, even if you spend your time “thinking right.”
Yes, Grady’s got management problems, but the need for that hospital should be beyond question.
We just need the other counties to foot their fair share of the bill.
Heh.
By WTF?
September 26, 2007 11:52 AM | Link to this
PeachCare, a program that provides top-drawer insurance coverage to children That is where you’re dead wrong!!! Peachcare provides the bare minimum of care, no extras, and the cheapest of everything………..all for our kids!!
I don’t see where there should be any issue about Grady or Peachcare as long as that white collar thug Bush and his greedy cronies are spending billions in Iraq!!! A bunch of f^cking crooks, is what they are!!!
By JustMe
September 26, 2007 11:53 AM | Link to this
The problem is that what is supposed to be a local hospital has become a State hospital. In addition, there has most certainly been mis-management of funds.
Close Grady? That really doesn’t make sense. The building, the equipment, etc. is too great to simply close the doors….. not to mention the training for new doctors, etc.
I am more for a forced change in management to start. The current management has proven to be ineffective - get rid of them. What should they be replaced with? Whoever it is needs to be honest with good morals and ethics! I know it’s hard to find folks like this in today’s world, but they gotta be around here some where!
What about payments? IMHO, as long as Grady is more like a State hospital, serving patients from all over the State, why not have the State pay for at least a portion of it? We should see a breakdown of patients and where they live and appropriate costs accordingly. It is crazy for DeKalb and Fulton to pay for 100% of it.
For those that say other hospitals also serve patients from other areas, that may be true. But it is not at all on the same scale as Grady - and that is the problem here.
By JustMe
September 26, 2007 11:55 AM | Link to this
The problem is that what is supposed to be a local hospital has become a State hospital. In addition, there has most certainly been mis-management of funds.
Close Grady? That really doesn’t make sense. The building, the equipment, etc. is too great to simply close the doors….. not to mention the training for new doctors, etc.
I am more for a forced change in management to start. The current management has proven to be ineffective - get rid of them. What should they be replaced with? Whoever it is needs to be honest with good morals and ethics! I know it’s hard to find folks like this in today’s world, but they gotta be around here some where!
What about payments? IMHO, as long as Grady is more like a State hospital, serving patients from all over the State, why not have the State pay for at least a portion of it? We should see a breakdown of patients and where they live and appropriate costs accordingly. It is crazy for DeKalb and Fulton to pay for 100% of it.
For those that say other hospitals also serve patients from other areas, that may be true. But it is not at all on the same scale as Grady - and that is the problem here.
By Osama Bin Laden
September 26, 2007 12:01 PM | Link to this
Keep Grady open. Why? There is an epidemic of some new mutation of the plague that the CDC admits is only a matter of time and there is a window of containment that only Grady can keep open.
The poor will suffer it first, (they always do), and we’ll spot it early and we might have a chance to stem the spread of it.
Keep Grady open, good people of Atlanta. If not, we’re finished.
By RABIDington is mighty rabid today
September 26, 2007 12:09 PM | Link to this
Hilarious to see the scurrilous demented lying black arsewipe RABIDington puking up yet more unprovoked vile personal abuse!!
IT IS ‘BLACK’ politicians RABIDington. They are one’s who screech racism any time blacks look like losing freebies from the public purse and refuse to take their black grasping snouts out of the taxpayer trough!! They are the ones who refuse to deal with Grady in a fiscally responsible way - or cede authority to a competent board that will look at the massive (black/illegal) Grady moneypit in a dispassionate, fiscally responsible way!!
S Fulton County undeniably still despicably LEECHES off N Fulton County because the majority criminals, deadbeats and functioning morons who live in S Fulton are NOT able to support themselves without massive subsidies from WHITEY!! That’s one of the main reasons the sensible folks in Sandy Springs finally scarpered from the gimme gimme ceaseless black demands for tax payer SUBSIDY!!!!
Now put that in your crackpipe and smoke it!! (figuratively - not literally of course)
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 12:14 PM | Link to this
I see they let you out of the crazy house to play, Andy.
Personally, if I were your insurer, I’d be dog mad. All that money, and you’re still as hopelessly racist, marginally entertaining and utterly irrelevant as ever.
But, it is nice to know that our medical institutions will take anyone, no matter how diseased, depraved, or (in your particular case) delusional.
Please tell Charles Manson I said hey.
By getalife
September 26, 2007 12:21 PM | Link to this
Gates seeks $190 billion for wars.
Jim cheers this waste but wants cuts for the poor.
Shame.
By time for the harsh truth
September 26, 2007 12:24 PM | Link to this
NOW THIS IS FREAKING HILARIOUS!!!
And a complete waste of Grady money and time!! Abject morons like this should be made to PAY for themselves - HOWEVER LONG it takes - with legally earned money!!
I bet these morons weren’t your white professional types either!! As usual WSB wimps out of stating the race of the imbeciles involved … but given the location and the crime …
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14206721/detail.html
By ron
September 26, 2007 12:38 PM | Link to this
Jim,If Grady dies,the people going there may wind up at your hospital.Just when you need it most,seven gunshot wound patients take up all the available care.What are you going to do?You better fork over your dollar a month or you'll be in a hospital full of people that are poor and maybe a little dirty.You wouldn't want that,would you?By stuffedshirt
September 26, 2007 12:39 PM | Link to this
Gee, Kennestone Hospital and the entire Wellstar system get no county hand outs, so why does Grady need Fulton and Grady welfare payments? The elderly have medicare to pay, the truely poor have medicaid, the auto accident victims have auto insurance companies to pay, so who exactly is getting the free care at Grady that is bankrupting the system? Illegals, street people maybe. There is enough money coming in for the hospital to operate, but not enough for all the political patronage do nothing jobs, the lazy do nothing nurses who refuse to follow doctors orders, and the worthless board of directors who are getting big pay checks. Fire all those people now, or close your doors forever. You know, Grady gets basically free doctor services from residents, who are paid 25 to 35 thousand per year for 60 plus hours work per week. Wellstar has no physician slave labor, yet they pay all their bills without government handouts. Get the stinking freeloaders off the grady payroll.
By RABIDington is mighty rabid today
September 26, 2007 12:39 PM | Link to this
poor old wimpering black bigot RABIDington …. still puking up unprovoked hysterical personal abuse and STILL runnin’ skeered of the ol nazi schizo Charlie Manson!!!
NO “racism” in my excellent posts RABIDington - merely pragmatic factual statements about endless black freeloading and hysterical black screeching every time black freeloading is publicly examined/threatened!
Tell us RABIDington - were the FOUR black scumbags who recently beat on a single WHITE THIRTEEN YEAR OLD BOY in Norfolk VA being racist??!! The video is sickening!! Should ALL THE SMUG black arseholes who tried to “free” SIX thuggish racist black scumbags who brutally kicked a white lad unconscious in Jena now have a pathetic “free the criminals” march in Norfolk to “free” these scum too??
Yet there was NO march when a much bigger gang of black thugs beat that black lad to pulp and caused him severe injuries at Six Flags a while back!! Sullen silence!! NO RACEBAITING AT ALL!!
Seems to reasonable folks that its only when its a WHITE victim of gang like black violence do blacks get real uppity and hysterical!! Blacks getting viciously beat by other blacks - THEY COULD CARE LESS!!!
By stuffedshirt
September 26, 2007 12:50 PM | Link to this
Yeah, jmblaw knows a lot about economics, that is why he can take huge amounts of time away from his law practice, and his stock investments to haunt this and other boards. A lesser educated man would have to work 8 hours per day to provide for his family. I am told jmblaw has many children, he just has not met any of them yet!
By Jeff
September 26, 2007 12:58 PM | Link to this
rarring:
15 counties out of 159 = 9.43% of the state. Again, I fail to see where any problem that affects these 15 counties exclusively (even collectively) is an issue that affects the STATE. What about the other 144 counties that are COMPLETELY unaffected???
It is really about black politicians and patronage. Black politicians know that to keep their job, they must continually drum up racial issues - they are the biggest racists (them and 99% of the state’s black population) in the state!. If blacks actually looked at the issues from an EVERYONE standpoint rather than a BLACK standpoint, Grady wouldn’t be in the mess that it is in. You don’t see whites getting mad that a politician didn’t come to one of their no-names debates and saying that the politicians involved “don’t care about white issues”, do ya???
Again, when Fulton and Dekalb counties begin paying their share of the bills for the patients of Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton, then these three counties should start paying Fulton and DeKalb. But again, where is the STATE issue here? Now you’re talking about FIVE counties - barely over THREE PERCENT of the state!
The need for Grady is beyond question. The State should NOT intervene. That is ALSO beyond question.
By WTF
September 26, 2007 1:01 PM | Link to this
I see the ignorance is in the house today!!! Keep spouting your prejudiced ignorance, that reminds everyone of just how far this country has NOT come! I don’t see you same folks spewing your ignorance at your lite-bright, white collar thug of a president Bushey!!! Now there’s a thug, crook, and all around low life for sure!!!!
By keep it coming Jeff
September 26, 2007 1:03 PM | Link to this
rarrington is hammered by Jeff again!!
Bravo Jeff. But why be so assiduously polite?
By Jeff
September 26, 2007 1:08 PM | Link to this
keep:
There is a time for civility, and a time for fighting. As long as someone poses no overt threat to anything I care deeply about, I will debate them as calmly and as civilly as I can.
I ask the same from all here, regardless of our respective positions on any given topic.
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 1:14 PM | Link to this
Jeff,
Ok,seems like you’re trying to think for yourself, so I’ll tread lightly.
Fact: There are 8 million people living in Georgia.
Fact: 75% of them live within a 100 mile radius of Grady (it’s service area), within 15 counties.
Fact: All of those 15 counties regularly send their most injured (and thus most expensive to treat) folks to Grady.
Fact: Only two of those counties provide funds to Grady.
Fact: I didn’t say the state had to pay for Grady’s services. I think a fairer deal would be for the counties which use it to contribute.
Fact: Georgia’s not exactly known for having the World’s Best Politicians.
Opinion: That said, the politicians (black and white) seem intelligent enough to recognize that Grady’s impact goes far beyond S. Fulton, as some of the more dimwitted and patently bigoted folks on this blog might like to believe (hi, Andy).
Request: The “straw man” argument no longer works. You actually have to address points directly now. Therefore, please stop dreaming up my positions on things, and simply read what I’ve written. Not as much fun for you, but ensures a more accurate discussion.
By Peter
September 26, 2007 1:18 PM | Link to this
WOW Dusty……….
Today I agree with you…….. Say one is in a downtown wreck……… where does one go immediately in the ambulance?
I won’t matter what color, race or religion if there is NOT a Trama center downtown to take folks…….
I would say the board of directors may need to be looked at, as the overall budget, hopefully try to find places the hospital is successful at and steer it that way.
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 1:19 PM | Link to this
keep it coming Andy,
You’ve gotta be kidding me.
Shortsighted, racist bile is not a persuasive argument.
No matter how much Ann, Sean and Rush tell you otherwise.
Really.
Hurf.
By Jeff
September 26, 2007 1:26 PM | Link to this
rarring:
FACT: Most people outside of the Atlanta Metro barely know Atlanta exists. I speak this as a resident of South GA who works in Central GA.
Fact: Just because an area has a large population does not mean it gets to control the destinies of the entire larger area. This was one of the central debates of the Founding Fathers, and the reason the Congress is divided into House and Senate.
Fact: I agree with you, that the affected areas should sort it out among themselves.
Fact: I don’t know the exact numbers, again, I’m in Central and South GA, but I do remember specifically reading the AJC article about the Fulton politician going to Cobb County Commission meeting and demanding they pay for their people that use Grady, and it was pointed out that just as many people use Grady from Cobb as use Kennestone from Fulton.
Fact: I could be persuaded to go so far as to agree to Mr. Wooten’s suggestion this morning: That the state DOES have a legitimate interest in the Level 1 Trauma Center and the Burn Center, but that these centers should be stripped from management by Grady and distributed across all of Atlanta’s hospitals.
By stuffedshirt
September 26, 2007 1:28 PM | Link to this
Peter, auto wrecks are huge profit makers for the er, because the auto insurance companies pay full book rate for er services, while health insurance has big discounts. The trick is to get the auto insurance check that covers medical expenses to the hospital, and not into the pocket of the injured. Fortunately, Georgia has a law that says any auto insurance check for medical expenses based on a hospital bill must be made out to both the patient and the hospital. Sometimes the check goes directly to the hospital, but most of the time it goes to the injured patient, but the patient cannot cash the check without the hospitals endorcement. The hospital requires the check to be deposited in the hospital account, and anything left over after all hospital bills have been paid, both long past unpaid bills, and the current bill, gets refunded to the injured patient. Do some patients forge the hospitals endorcement? Yes, and that is why the checks need to go directly to the hospital, and not to the patient. Legislation is pending, but the stinking lawyers are fighting this bill. They want a piece of that check too. Since auto insurance is required in Georgia, every accident victim should be fully insured for all er services needed.
By Curious Observer
September 26, 2007 1:28 PM | Link to this
So, according to Jeff, Grady is absolutely necessary but Fulton and DeKalb counties should continue to pay for it.
Since when is it a county’s obligation to provide funding for the indigent? The state assumes the obligation to pay for medical care for the indigent through PeachCare and Medicaid, but somehow Grady is a different story? Grady isn’t a state issue, but PeachCare and Medicaid are?
So Fulton and DeKalb taxpayers are to continue paying through the nose for a trauma center to take care of victims of automobile accidents and the occasional bus crash, regardless of where the injured live?
Not in my book, buster. If Fulton and DeKalb counties are going to pay for it, Grady needs to be reserved exclusively for residents of those counties. I don’t write out that big check to the county commissioner every fall so that I can help maintain a trauma center that Jeff sees as necessary. And I don’t write it out to allow Emory the convenience of training its new physicians, who won’t even be living in Fulton or DeKalb once they’ve finished their training.
Jeff sounds a lot like the old adage: “Don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree.” The taxpayers of Fulton and DeKalb are tired of being the fellow behind the tree.
By jbm is a condescending...
September 26, 2007 1:32 PM | Link to this
Grady is run by the Fulton-Dekalb Hospital Authority and is not a corporation receiving corporate welfare. It is a governmental entity run by the government. The issue now, along with the funding problems, is whether to privatize Grady. Get your facts straight before spouting off your ‘economic’ knowledge. Throwing out a few buzzwords to obscure the issue might work in the GOP, but it is unproductive in a debate with real implications for a lot of people. If you live in Fulton or Dekalb, you are already economically enslaved to Grady. And the killing uninisured patients comments was related your “customer service” idea of stationing machine guns to greet new customers.
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 1:51 PM | Link to this
FACT: Most people outside of the Atlanta Metro barely know Atlanta exists. I speak this as a resident of South GA who works in Central GA.
Of course they do. The Atlanta MSA is the economic engine of the state and the South in general. It provides most of the jobs, taxes, and economic support for the rest of the area. Just because you don’t like the city, doesn’t mean for a second that it’s importance should be diminished.
To the point, if you get into a catastrophic accident in Macon, I guarantee you’ll be hearing about Atlanta - and Grady - soon enough. That hospital, in this town, are likely your best shot at survival.
But you know that already.
Fact: Just because an area has a large population does not mean it gets to control the destinies of the entire larger area. This was one of the central debates of the Founding Fathers, and the reason the Congress is divided into House and Senate.
Correct, but only partially so. The actual debate centered around representation within a federalist context. That means everyone having a say in one central government, but at the end of the day, the point of democracy is majority rule.
Else, why whould you southern folks be so interested in redistricting?
Oh, and everyone gets to pay, as well.
The reality is that economic control is just as persuasive - and pervasive - as political control, but that’s another thought for another day.
Fact: I agree with you, that the affected areas should sort it out among themselves.
That’s not actually a fact, it’s an opinion, though I’m glad it’s one we share.
Fact: I don’t know the exact numbers, again, I’m in Central and South GA, but I do remember specifically reading the AJC article about the Fulton politician going to Cobb County Commission meeting and demanding they pay for their people that use Grady, and it was pointed out that just as many people use Grady from Cobb as use Kennestone from Fulton.
Absolutely correct. Tons of people outside of Fulton and Dekalb use Grady, and should be required to pay their fair share.
See, isn’t it more fun when we’re all pulling together?
Fact: I could be persuaded to go so far as to agree to Mr. Wooten’s suggestion this morning: That the state DOES have a legitimate interest in the Level 1 Trauma Center and the Burn Center, but that these centers should be stripped from management by Grady and distributed across all of Atlanta’s hospitals.
Ok, now we’re back to your opinion, based on Wooten’s opinion, which is frequently grounded in a smattering of biased and otherwise-suspect fact.
The key is not to gut the hospital, it’s to secure a more reasonable and fairly distributed funding mechanism.
Or, we can move the trauma center to Cobb General and let the fine folks over there foot the bill for the entire region….
Just trying to think right, y’all.
By time for the truth about THE NASTY BLACK RACIST RABIDington
September 26, 2007 1:59 PM | Link to this
poor old RABIDington … pukes up more witless racebaiting LIES/bollocks!!
NOTHING I posted was “racist” RABIDington!! Just factual matter of fact details and well informed, fair comment!!
It is NOT in the least “racist” to point out that it is utterly pathetic that SIX sullen black racist hippety hop SCUM viciously gangbeat a SINGLE white lad and then along comes a whining bleating simpleton bigoted herd of black racebaiting sheeple getting all mouthy and uppity in defence of vile lynch mob BLACK RACIST CRIMINALS - yet the same herd of black bigoted sheeple says BUGGER ALL about a much more serious/nasty BLACK beat down of a SINGLE DEFENCELESS black lad at Six Flags!!
BLACK RACIST HYPOCRISY IS SICKENING!!
A reasonable person would think you people - of all people - would’ve learned by now that racism - in this case blatant anti-white - is despicable and that blacks would stop being putrid hypocrites!!
As for that thuggish, indefensible black gang beating of a single young white 13 yr old boy in VA … your sullen silence says it ALL!!
KEEP DRINKING THE black BIGOTS KKKOOLAID RABIDinton!!
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 2:03 PM | Link to this
Fact: I don’t know the exact numbers, again, I’m in Central and South GA, but I do remember specifically reading the AJC article about the Fulton politician going to Cobb County Commission meeting and demanding they pay for their people that use Grady, and it was pointed out that just as many people use Grady from Cobb as use Kennestone from Fulton.
Accidentally clipped my last section. I also stated that first, Kennestone patients are likely to be insured. Grady attracts more uninsured patients than any other hospital around.
That would change, dramatically I think, if Grady disappeared. I imagine long lines at Piedmont and Northside would help the Jims, Jeffs and Crazy Andys of the world to reconsider their positions.
Or maybe they’d just rail about the “invasion of brown and blakkks” in their formerly quaint hamlet hospitals.
Second, you don’t get burn victims, folks from life threatening vehicle and work accidents, and other trauma patients coming into Kennestone.
Those people are FAR more expensive to treat that the “little Billy has a tummyache” cases more prevalent and Kennestone.
But you knew that, too.
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 2:06 PM | Link to this
But please, keep “hammering” away.
And Andy, I’ll respond to you when you post something worth responding to. Don’t hold your breath….
Actually, holding your breath until you pass out might be kinda fun - and a most productive use of your time.
Hmph.
By stuffedshirt
September 26, 2007 2:17 PM | Link to this
Actually rarringt, you do get nasty auto wrecks coming into kennestone. The only criteria that requires transport to Grady is loss of consciousness, because as a level 1 Trauma center, Grady must have a neurosurgeon available at all times. Kennestone was once part of the Trauma network, a level 1 trauma center. Since the neurosurgeons practicing at Kennestone had lives outside the hospital, they refused to be medical slaves to the trauma network by being on call constantly. How does Grady do it? They have medical slaves called residents, provided by Morehouse and Emory, supervised by attending neurosurgeons from Emory. The attendings are not required to be on site 24/7, rather residents provide that coverage. Since Kennestone has no residents, the entire burden of er coverage fell on the regular staff. That said, the kennestone neurosurgeons are just as capable if not more capable as the Grady neurosurgeons. They are not however required to see just anyone who shows up in the er. You have to go to their private practice, a little hard to do when you are unconscious. Again, I ask how does Kennestone get by without the 100 million dollar per year in welfare from the county governments? Well, they have no government patronage jobs, and nurses and others who refuse doctors instructions are fired on the spot. At Grady, the nurses ignore the doctors, as they report to the hospital, and not to the medical staff. X-rays get done within the hour at kennestone, at grady it takes 18 to 24 hours because the deedwood transporters are off smoke, drinking, and who knows what else.
By political foreskin
September 26, 2007 2:25 PM | Link to this
Well contructed, stuffed shirt. That was a fine bit o’ thinkin’
Only you had to go for the old rag about healthcare workers being substance abusers and not doing their jobs.
You were so close to respectability. Then you had to blow it. Well, you’re always blowing something, why not your point?
Shame, sir.
I SAID SHAME!
By stuffedshirt
September 26, 2007 2:34 PM | Link to this
political foreskin - I don’t count transporters as medical workers, they are menial labor at best. As for the nursing staff, I do not know about drugs and alcohol use, but attitude and defiance of medical authority is rampant, and unpunished.
By political foreskin
September 26, 2007 2:34 PM | Link to this
There are new diseases, plagues, and airborne viral contagions in the pipeline, people. Grady is the kind of place where we might first spot the mutations.
We close Grady, and we leave ourselves wide open to a deadly new plague that will make the Black Death of the 13th century look like restless leg syndrome.
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 2:36 PM | Link to this
Actually, the “deedwoods” are off caring for overwhelming numbers of very sick people. But that’s just a GOP nugget of misdirection.
It’s not just about loss of consciousness, its about the totality of the patient’s condition.
But I know, you’ve got someone who used to date a nurse who walks through the ER at Kennestone, so you’ve got insider information, right?
Just because the truth is inconvenient doesn’t give you the right to make stuff up that more properly fits into your worldview.
To quote my occasional online ally getalife, “Geez.”
By jbmlaw
September 26, 2007 2:39 PM | Link to this
Dear Condescending @ 1:32, thanks for the information, so Grady is an example of the magnificence of government-run health care? (I acknowledged my lack of interest in the issue at 9:20, suppose you missed that brilliant post.) Good to know, although the scandal confirms my core philosophies.
So the question, as you aptly note at 1:32, is whether to privatize a questionably-managed public entity? What is the argument in favor of pouring more taxpayer money down the toilet? Seem like you made a strong case for a private market solution, so I think we have no point of dispute.
By jbmlaw
September 26, 2007 2:44 PM | Link to this
By the way, Condescending @ 1:32, when did we elect the “Fulton-Dekalb Hospital Authority?” Sounds like the party of competence needs to field a new slate of directors. Or is your point that this is a hospital that cannot be managed competently?
By political foreskin
September 26, 2007 2:44 PM | Link to this
If one more person says “Geez”…..
By time for the harsh truth about RABIDington's vile bigotry
September 26, 2007 2:47 PM | Link to this
the imperious black bigotry of RABIDington is freaking hilarious!!
as is its glib glossing over of the entrenched systematic (predominantly black) freeloading at Grady - aside from its trauma/burns centre!!
IT does NOT understand the meaning of the word “racism” - but desperately, glibly and despicably repeatedly pukes it up like a witless cyber monkey typing its poison by rote!!
IT simply cannot bring itself to condemn blatant black hypocrisy/ bigotry/racism.
hence the sullen witless cowardice of “when you post something worth responding to”
black beat downs of whites are “fine” - but actually making black thugs responsible for their criminal racist thuggery is NOT “fine” - so the bigoted black sheeple march and screech about whitey!!
AS for the black thugs who mercilessly beat that black lad at Six Flags … not ONE hint of a 60’s style hate fest march in protest about this equally shameful cowardly thuggery!!
By jbm is a condescending...
September 26, 2007 2:57 PM | Link to this
NO one on this blog has said that Grady is an example of the “magnificence of government-run health care”. But it serves a valuable function in the community and something must be done to insure its viability in the long run or make sure the function it provides is covered elsewhere. IF you have no interest, why weigh in, particularly with a dumb “joke” that seems designed only to tick people off? My work here is done. Selah.
By jbm is a condescending...
September 26, 2007 3:07 PM | Link to this
We didn’t and don’t elect the authority. The GA legislature created it in 1941 to run Grady and other public hospitals. The two counties appoint board members to staggered four year terms. Clearly it needs to be better managed. It has too often be used as a political football. More focus is needed on its mission.
By stuffedshirt
September 26, 2007 3:26 PM | Link to this
rarringt - I do not need to present my credentials to you or anyone else to have an informed opinion on the matter. Loss of consciousness is the primary criteria for required transport from the local hospital to Grady. Burns can be and are stabalized at local hospitals prior to transport to a burn center. Neonatal transports are more a function of available space in a nicu. I am not here to debate transport policy with you, just to point out that Grady is not the best or only hospital capable of providing emergency services. Grady can close tomorrow and medical care will continue in Atlanta and the metro area, and the taxpayers of Fulton and Dekalb counties will be a collective 100 million bucks richer.
By catlady
September 26, 2007 3:35 PM | Link to this
I am glad to have Grady and the dedicated doctors, nurses, and support staff that work there. I am NOT glad to see the board go after a new “savior” every few years to “clean up” the problems. Grady has been looked upon as a public works project for too many years, with some folks who are too invested in bringing home the pork instead of providing a venue for excellent care. The way the management board has fought their own solicited recommendations is telling… they just want “a little more time” to “straighten it out.” Well, they have had their time and their chance. Until the board is completely replaced with those who aren’t charged with “bringing home the bacon”, things will never get better. It seems obvious to me that a new concept of Grady’s role, which may include several of its current roles, be made operational. No sacred cows! Nothing off (or under) the table!
I only know one person who has ever had to use Grady (praise God) but in many of its roles it performs valuable services. Some of its services could be carried out in other ways, perhaps. That needs to be examined with a dispassionate eye.
By stuffedshirt
September 26, 2007 3:38 PM | Link to this
rarringt said - Accidentally clipped my last section. I also stated that first, Kennestone patients are likely to be insured. Grady attracts more uninsured patients than any other hospital around. - How do you know Kennestone patients are more likely to be insured? Are you dating someone from the janitorial staff who does dumpster diving to gather your statistical information? Next time, prior to shooting off your mouth via this blog, try collecting some information rather than just making it up.
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 4:16 PM | Link to this
Crazy bigoted shortsighted Andy said: “…as is its glib glossing over of the entrenched systematic (predominantly black) freeloading at Grady - aside from its trauma/burns centre!!”
So, keep the isolated part you like, but ditch the rest of the hospital, which provides the necessary training/staffing/infrastructure for the center in the first place?
It’s a bit like saying that you want personal transportation, but instead of buying the car, you only want to purchase the steering wheel.
If having a level one trauma center was so easy as round the clock neurological care, as my friend shirty opines, then why don’t more hospitals simply hire a few more neurosurgeons? Surely the cost of hiring 2 more neurosurgeouns (@250k each x 100 hospitals) would be far cheaper than keeping nasty ol’ Grady open, wouldn’t it? Why, that would only cost half as much as Grady and service the entire state.
This is the part where some right thinker says “it’s not quite that simple.” And they’d finally be correct.
There’s infinitely more that goes into a hospital having a Level 1 designation than bumping up staffing. But I’m sure you knew that, too. You just want to redirect your tax money so it only benefits you.
And we wonder why Georgia is at the bottom of the scale in education….
By political foreskin
September 26, 2007 4:17 PM | Link to this
Save Grady.
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 4:21 PM | Link to this
As far as stuffy’s 3:38 comment, well, you know where you can stuff it.
Sorry, you know I had to go there. Seriously, I deal with the acting head of Grady in my practice, and went to law school with the GC. But, you don’t need connections. Just read the paper of record (no, the Rush Report doesn’t count), and follow the legislative process.
Any more questions, stuffy, or are you about to subject us to another Sean Hannity inspired rant?
By political foreskin
September 26, 2007 4:27 PM | Link to this
That’s just it, rarringt, he baited you to go there and he knew you’d go there just like he predicted. That kind of makes you the shmoe-hawk and stuffy the great-hawk, dig?
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 4:35 PM | Link to this
Where do you think I’ve been led, PF? Even if I’ve been successfully baited, as you say, I don’t think any of my statements have put me into an ideological corner.
He, and his ilk, makes up facts as he goes along, and resorts to ad hominem responses when the truth is inconveniently pointed out.
I simply enjoy doing the pointing….
By political foreskin
September 26, 2007 4:37 PM | Link to this
and i dont think that’s jbm. Some troll jacked his nick, and I hope that’s not some gay code for some illegal career ending Sen Craig type thing, I simply mean that jbm wouldn’t comment so crudely. He’s too sophisticated for that. It’s a troll. Some other idiot copied “my work here is done” trying to make it seem like I was the author of his remark, but so what.
When are you peoples going to realize that a comment is judged on it’s own merit, not on the I.D.
By time for the harsh truth
September 26, 2007 4:38 PM | Link to this
RABIDington’s imbecilic dishonesty is the gift that keeps giving.
Clearly IMPLICIT in the notion of “keeping” the trauma/burns unit is keeping the medical/ancillary support depts that service it. Otherwise … I’m typing v e r y - s l o w l y - n o w … it won’t be able to function properly - DUH!!!
BUT … closing the door to freeloading blacks - who UNDENIABLY are the worst of the local leeches for freebies and free non life threatening care at taxpayer expense makes superb fiscal sense. It will ensure that S Fulton County and the rest of the metro deadbeat areas will have to address their own medical care. Why NOT actually tax S Fulton CO types with a higher tax specifically going toward Grady/S Fulton care for its residents?
If RABIDington is a “lawyer” then I’m a HARVARD nuclear physicist!!
By political foreskin
September 26, 2007 4:44 PM | Link to this
Why dont you go absorb some gamma rays, Dildon? You cant post one comment without using the word imbecile.
ten bucks says he calls me one. Twenty bucks says he doesn’t know the legal definition of one. Thirty bucks says he’ll google it and then do a diatribe about it.
what a fall guy.
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 4:46 PM | Link to this
Nice to meet you, Dr. Andy.
How was your last year in Cambridge? lol
Seriously, Andy, how much time does it take you to come up with this vile far-right racist vitriol?
Or are you just naturally gifted/cursed? lol
By Who's 'yo daddy
September 26, 2007 4:54 PM | Link to this
Anybody here ever get the impression that political foreskin is the condescending arsehole and not jbm.
Think about it. He’s telling all you mopes how to blog and declares himself the master.
What a prick!
By political foreskin
September 26, 2007 4:57 PM | Link to this
whatever, rarr.
Does it matter. Is there a more boring topic than Grady? I’m completely out of material. It doesn’t matter what we think, Grady will find money no matter what. What politician would run on “I killed Grady?”
The idea of a phoenix rising up out of the ashes of the burn center, a metaphor that wooten slipped past everyone but me this morning, is nonsense.
If there were any impetus for a trauma center to suddenly appear, it would have detectable roots now.
There’s nothing. ZIP!
Save Grady.
By stuffedshirt
September 26, 2007 5:02 PM | Link to this
Being a level one trauma center is not an honor, it is a burden on the medical staff. but how would a lawyer know about 2am calls to come to the hospital, the only calls these clowns ever get at night is to come bail out their brother in law from the drunk tank. Lawyers are paracites on the medical system, yet they think they know more than the far better educated mds. Byte off all you legal beagle scum bags. I never cut a lawyer a break on anything.
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 5:05 PM | Link to this
Dang, PF,
For an aspiring comedic writer, you seem a bit…acerbic today.
I mean, not even a comment from your “friend” Redneck Convert. Hope everything’s ok up there in Forsyth County.
But if his beer truck was involved in a bad accident, hopefully they took him to Grady. :^)
By imbecilic aborted foreskin
September 26, 2007 5:06 PM | Link to this
Why dont you go absorb some gamma rays
SNIGGER SNIGGER - this snivelling mentally fragile brain dead mental midget is NOW hypocritically making death wishes!!!
time now to get my pretend queeralicious lawyer to be the archetypal cyber drama queen and tell issue a drama queen statement telling the whole blog how I am anally and imbecilically (sic) petrified for my family and myself!!
what an sad anal IMBECILIC dogturd aborted foreskin is!!
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 5:10 PM | Link to this
…And thus ends what remained of stuffy’s credibility.
Nice playing with you stuffy, but next time, try and bring some independent and more well considered thoughts to the sandbox.
It’s much more fun if you play that way.
Speaking of which, it’s getting dark, and I’ve gotta get home before the street lights come on…. lol
By stuffedshirt
September 26, 2007 5:13 PM | Link to this
Hey rarringt, I am forwarding your name dropping of the Grady legal beagles to the Grady CEO. I bet you get no more contract work of of those dead beats. Better yet, when Grady shuts down, your pals will be out of work. Your comments have just made that day come a little sooner than it would have otherwise.
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 5:22 PM | Link to this
Gawd, this is just too easy, stuffy….
Don’t type too fast, you don’t want to overload the circuitry in your double-wide (home or brain function)….
By getalife
September 26, 2007 5:24 PM | Link to this
Looks like his shirt is stuffed with bs.
Anyhoo, after the trillions are wasted in Iraq, there will be many programs cut like the neocons want.
Jim and his ilk will wallow in glee while Americans suffer.
By @@
September 26, 2007 5:27 PM | Link to this
I’ve read the comments and I think I want my dollar back. Just kidding, but no more do-overs. If they fail, the doors close.
This may seem out of place but relative to the topic of Grady. Who can recall how Hamas got elected?
They bought their votes by providing clinics, schools etc at no cost to the citizens. Compassionate democrats.
How’s that working for ‘em?
How’s that working for the patients?
Doctors take sides as Gaza’s political wound festers
By political foreskin
September 26, 2007 5:31 PM | Link to this
Vick failed a drug test. this sheds new light on the airport incident over the bottle with the false bottom (a stealth bong?) and brings into question what Blank knew and when did he know it.
The falcons sunday could have won that game. Hall was disgraceful. If you’re an inferior player, dont get penalized about it. What was he doing, enticing the cheerleaders?
0-3. Still not impossible.
By Jackie
September 26, 2007 5:43 PM | Link to this
If Grady closes where does the poor and indigent go to receive medical care? What happens with the Hill-Burton Act that benefits ALL OF US in receiving medical care? Everyone does not have medical insurance and/or affordable medical coverage. Do we ignore those who work and can’t afford the medical coverage? All of those who have older parents and may be using Social Security, Medicare, TriCare or some other government sponsored medical assistance program, do we throw those people in the street?
By rarringt
September 26, 2007 5:49 PM | Link to this
Do we ignore those who work and can’t afford the medical coverage? All of those who have older parents and may be using Social Security, Medicare, TriCare or some other government sponsored medical assistance program, do we throw those people in the street?
In WootenWorld, we call that “letting market forces control.”
By political foreskin
September 26, 2007 5:52 PM | Link to this
The play calling is still a little too conservative for my tastes. Falcons can win if they can sustain a drive once in a while. I know, why dont you call the draw play again on second and short.
By For the Record ...
September 26, 2007 5:55 PM | Link to this
Rarringt:
It’s an utter waste of time.
Engage pyschotic trash like TFTT in civil discourse?
Or JMBLAW, with his absurd teenage solipsistic Ayn Rand “I’m Hero Man Smart So I Can Allow Poor Children to Die Without a Single Dime From Me” sense of (financial) self-worth?
Why soil yourself? Their time is up, even if they don’t understand it.
Read a good book instead …
By @@
September 26, 2007 5:58 PM | Link to this
PoliFore????
Are you watching a game and talking to the T.V.?
why dont you call the draw play again on second and short.
By Dusty
September 26, 2007 6:12 PM | Link to this
Well, there are lotsa conclusions here and a few good ones but I cite a few:
I do not think that jbmlaw posted here today. IMPOSTERS!
Peter got smart and agreed with me, just like he should at all times.
rrarrington is the worst defense lawyer ever. Flashing your credentials goes over like a lead baloon. The jury just flunked you.
Grady offers care that I believe some cannot get elsewhere. But even with all the financial fiasco, NOBODY, not even one, said “Bush did it!” I am pleased that liberals CAN learn to drop blatant lies after awhile. But….we shall see tomorrow!!!
By Osama Bin Laden
September 27, 2007 8:11 AM | Link to this
and those are fine conclusions from a fine mind!
By Dusty
September 27, 2007 8:46 AM | Link to this
Thank you!!
By Miles Apart
September 27, 2007 9:07 AM | Link to this
You’re welcome, my fine friend.
We love you, Dusty!!
By Mid-South Philosopher
September 27, 2007 9:39 AM | Link to this
Where is the comments link to Jim’ Thursday, September 27th, blog!?!?!?
By stuffedshirt
September 27, 2007 9:41 AM | Link to this
Grady is going down, down, down. Do not even think of dumping your patients in Cobb County - Fulton and Dekalb taxpayers have already paid for their care at Grady, but thieves like that fake lawyer rarringt have already stolen the money, imho. BTW, Kennestone hospital accepts the miserablely low Medicaid, Medicare, and Tricare reimbursement rate, such that patients only have to pay their cost share. What Cobb hospitals will not accept are patients dumped from Grady - I suggest if Grady closes, the patients be transfered to Emory first, then to other Fulton and Dekalb county hospitals. The long term, recovery unlikely patients can go the Crestview nursing home, or hospice care. If more funding is needed, I suggest Fulton and Dekalb impose an occupation tax on all lawyers in those counties, say a 50% across the board tax on Gross income.
By Miles Apart
September 27, 2007 9:50 AM | Link to this
After reading Stuffed shirt’s comments, there are reports that nursing home patients from Crestview are massing in wheelchairs along the border of the county line, and are preparing a full scale punitive Tieneman Square style assault on his home.
Ixnay on the infermedway
Midsouth, Wooten’s blog likes to wait till the lunatics wear themselves out over at luckovich and it opens later to a more calm discussion. It’s brilliant.
Or the techs are morons.
By stuffedshirt
September 27, 2007 10:10 AM | Link to this
Look at the bright side Miles Apart, when Grady closes, all those lazy nurses will be fired, and dumped on the job market. If other hospital systems hire them, they will start at the bottom of the pay scale, getting no credit for their years at Grady. Negative attitude and difiance of authority will get them fired again with in the first three months. Costs for staff at other hospitals should drop some with all these entry level RNs, LPNs, and NAs, as well as lab techs, x-ray, ultrasound, mri, cat, an other currently over paid dead beats suddenly dumped on the job market. No one from administration will at Grady will ever get a job in health care in Georgia again, because they are all suspect of patronage stupidity.
By Miles Apart
September 27, 2007 10:19 AM | Link to this
Stuffedshirt, did you just say that nurses, some of which are total babes, could be fired and dumped on the job market where they’ll be easy prey, and give it up for dinner and a movie date? I’m a readin’ and I’m a likin! They say nurses are really handy with sponges, pillow, and stethoscopes, if’n you be a followin’ where I be a leadin’….
Go Stuffed Shirt! We love you! You rock!
By stuffedshirt
September 27, 2007 10:22 AM | Link to this
Miles, the nurses at grady be ugly dogs, but if that is the best you can aspire to, go for it.
By sct
September 27, 2007 10:32 AM | Link to this
Mid-South, could you blame Jim if he just decided to pull the plug on this garbage. This place is now worse than the Luckovich blog. No wonder Jim doesn’t participate on his own blog anymore.
By Miles Apart
September 27, 2007 11:09 AM | Link to this
Glad you like the material, sct, feel free to steal. Then folks’ll think that YOU’RE the genius instead of the fill in the blank you truly are.
But you managed a well constructed criticism of a blog entry, indeed. Bravo, sir.
We love you, sct. You rock!
By getalife
September 27, 2007 12:25 PM | Link to this
Bad news for Jim and his ilk, the Senate approved expanding children health care with enough votes to over ride w’s veto.
Bwa.
By Jim Wooten
September 27, 2007 1:08 PM | Link to this
Ah, yes, but dear getalife, the over-ride votes don’t exist in the House.
Incidentally, in response to sct, I am inclined to delete posts that amount to nothing more than repetitions of a single sentence and may explore, as well, others that appear to be the handiwork of trolls.
By soccer is not a sport
September 27, 2007 1:15 PM | Link to this
yo getajob, the usa already spends 2 trillion dollars per year on health care, and you want to throw more money at it? Children are the healthies age group in the country, requiring almost no health care. Antibiotics are free at Publix pharmacies. Yet you spend, spend, spend clowns want to throw billions of dollars at childrens health care! Well, I guarantee the american health care system will thank you, as they grab every penny and run to the bank. Pretty soon, they will want a baseline MRI and CAT on each and every five year old brat in the land. We will have children drugged to the gills on zoloft, speedballs, zanax, and getting intensive one on one psycho therapy weekly. Oh well, just take the cost out of the Medicare trust fund, lazy old coots like Getajob do not deserve health care in their old age.
By getalife
September 27, 2007 2:00 PM | Link to this
You are correct Jim.
Am I a “troll”?
Yo,
I would love to see trillions spent on American children not wasted in Iraq.
BTW, I am retired and please stop taking the childrens meds.
Geez.
By getalife
September 27, 2007 2:18 PM | Link to this
[If there’s anybody left who doubts that “compassionate conservatism” is an Orwellian smokescreen for the same old Republican policies, the President’s actions around SCHIP should put that to rest.)(http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/9/27/125917/038)
Ouch Jim, I am guessing they will try again closer to election time.
By getalife
September 27, 2007 2:21 PM | Link to this
Ooops.
If there’s anybody left who doubts that “compassionate conservatism” is an Orwellian smokescreen for the same old Republican policies, the President’s actions around SCHIP should put that to rest.
Ouch Jim, I am guessing they will try again closer to election time.
By Mid-South Philosopher
September 27, 2007 2:26 PM | Link to this
Dear sct @10:32A.M.
Sorry that I am just responding, but I have been away.
We do get a lot of unnecessary chatter on here, from time to time, but I appreciate Jim NOT dumping other than the vulgar or profane. Some folks just have a limited vocabulary…orally and intellectually. Not everyone can pontificate with a flare.
By Mid-South Philosopher
September 27, 2007 2:46 PM | Link to this
It seems as though the blog link for Jim’s column today has finally opened up.