The new governing board of Grady Memorial Hospital symbolizes hope that Atlanta will rally around the hospital, restore it to solvency and ensure the region's neediest patients get the care they need.

The 17-member board has called a meeting for today to elect officers and begin the transfer of authority from the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority. The new board —- made up of business, community and academic leaders —- has accepted a huge challenge, trying to control costs at the state's largest public hospital while maintaining its role as a safety net for patients who can't find help elsewhere.

The growing number of uninsured patients —- an estimated 400,000 in metro Atlanta alone —- as well as a stingy reimbursement formula for Medicaid, which covers very low-income patients, has made Grady's survival difficult. To make matters worse, the politically appointed authority that has run the hospital for nearly six decades has operated largely in secret and consistently refused to make hard decisions. The result has been more than a decade of deficits, mounting debts and delays in modernizing vital hospital equipment.

Once fully functional, the new board must act quickly. Its meetings must be open and its actions fully explained. It should expect vigorous dissent and listen to critics. But it cannot be paralyzed by the possible political implications of its decisions.

The tough truth is that without some restraint on Grady's services, the hospital will not survive. Smarter management may also finally allow Grady to provide more effective, targeted medical services to thousands of poor and uninsured patients.

The state's political leadership must make good on promises as well. Grady provides trauma, neonatal intensive care and other high-cost services to patients throughout North Georgia. Those services require significant increases in state funding. The hospital should be rewarded, not penalized, for taking in more Medicaid patients than any other facility in the state.

In its deal to surrender power to the new Grady board, the authority also secured an agreement that $200 million in private funds will be made available over the next few years for capital needs. Major Atlanta foundations, corporate contributors and private charities —- many of which have shied away from Grady in recent years —- should also consider pledges to the hospital now that a new board is taking charge.

Grady Memorial Hospital represents this community's most visible commitment to the poor. For too long it has suffered from political cronyism, mismanagement, inadequate funding and, yes, neglect.

If the hospital's new leadership can create an alliance between the larger community and Grady, its noble and historic mission will be preserved.