Grady Memorial Hospital is $10 million away from fund-raising goal

Grady Memorial Hospital, which has already gotten commitments from Fulton and DeKalb county governments toward its $165 million goal for two capital projects, announced Thursday it was only $10 million away from reaching it.

Fulton County commissioners agreed to bond up to $60 million for the project, and DeKalb County commissioners up to $30 million. The public-private partnership will pay for the construction of a seven-story advanced surgical services center with operating and recovery rooms across the street from the main hospital building and the modernization and expansion of the Ponce de Leon Center, which treats more than 6,000 people a year with HIV and AIDS.

Renay Blumenthal, president of the Grady Health Foundation, said the Woodruff Foundation had pledged $50 million to the total. Other contributors include the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation, the Marcus Foundation, Gilead Sciences, Inc. and members of Grady’s board.

“We’ve just been so pleasantly overwhelmed by the community’s response,” Blumenthal said. “It shows the community understands the importance of Grady.”

A decade ago, Grady almost shut its doors. Now, Blumenthal said, it has become a hospital of choice for many residents.

Blumenthal said the hospital system has until spring to raise the $10 million it needs for construction. She said she is also seeking an additional $10 million to enhance the hospital’s behavioral health and ophthalmology services, and for other program needs.

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