Grady cuts discussed at emergency meeting

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Photos: Grady Memorial Hospital will close two neighborhood clinics and increase prescription drug copays – threatening access to care for some of Atlanta’s poorest residents -- as it faces a $30 million-plus gap in funding. The Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority Board of Trustees called an emergency meeting on Monday, March 7, 2011, to discuss the situation.

Otis W. Smith Health Center is one of two neighborhood clinics that Grady Memorial Hospital plans to close as a cost-saving measure. Here, Dr. Melba Johnson carefully draws blood from Rafayla Valente's two-year-old son, Sunny Garcia, with help from nurse practitioner Camille Bentuck at the clinic.

The Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority Board of Trustees called an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss pending cuts in medical service. The plan is to close two neighborhood clinics, including Otis W. Smith Health Center. Drug co-pays will also increase.

Dr. Melba Johnson points to pictures of patients that Otis W. Smith Health Center has served. "We have a good relationship with all the families that come here, " she says. Dr. Johnson has been at the center for the last 13 years.

Grady Memorial Hospital is facing a $30 million-plus decrease in funding to help care for poor and uninsured patients.

Presiding chairman Thomas Dortch Jr., talks about the financial situation at Grady Memorial Hospital during an emergency board meeting of the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority. Both Fulton and DeKalb counties cut their allocations to Grady this year and the hospital has $30 million less. (AJC file photo)

Dr. Geetanjali Vasandani attends to patient Joe Frazier at the Otis W. Smith Health Center on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive in Atlanta Monday, March 7, 2011.

Attorneys from Schiff Hardin Han Choi and Lewis Horne Jr. are in attendance on Monday, March 7, 2011, at an emergency meeting of the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority .

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Otis W. Smith Health Center is one of two neighborhood clinics that Grady Memorial Hospital plans to close as a cost-saving measure. Here, Dr. Melba Johnson carefully draws blood from Rafayla Valente's two-year-old son, Sunny Garcia, with help from nurse practitioner Camille Bentuck at the clinic.

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