Notes from a Grady meeting
Thursday, September 20, 2007, 10:51 AM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Those watching carefully in the state Capitol on Wednesday could see some shifting of ground on the issue of saving Grady Memorial Hospital.

A pair of committee hearings were held, one in the House and one in the Senate, one controlled by Republicans and one by Democrats.

The gathering of the Senate Urban Affairs Committee, chaired by David Adelman (D-Atlanta) and peopled with nine Democrats, may have been the most telling.

Tom Bell, the chairman and CEO of Cousins Properties, laid out the rationale behind the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce report calling for a shift in management for Grady to a non-profit corporation.

Not present was state Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth), who has been pressing the point that the charity hospital's contract with the Emory University School of Medicine is one-sided, in Emory's favor, and needs to be reviewed.

Emory and Morehouse College provide physicians and doctors-in-training to the hospital.

Despite his absence, Shafer scored a victory — but a limited one.

“First of all, every major contract needs to be reviewed and renegotiated, starting with medical school contracts. They're out-dated. That needs to be changed,” Bell told senators.

On the other hand, the business executive made it clear that Grady needed Emory more than Emory needed Grady. It would be hard for the hospital to find another source for so many doctors, Bell said — while Emory already has two hospitals that could become classrooms for its medical students.

Bell also outlined how the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority would be responsible for selecting the members of a board of directors for any 501(c)3 corporation created — although, he said, board membership would probably need the approval of financial entities involved in the bail-out.

After its creation, the new Grady board would be self-perpetuating.

That seemed to mollify state Sen. Kasim Reed (D-Atlanta), who expressed his worry that state government — i.e., Republicans — would dictate board membership in return for increased state assistance.

State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta), who also sits on the committee, remains unconvinced that a change in Grady's management structure is necessary. He expressed objections to what he called “a coerced approach” to reforming Grady.

And he promised that the Grady issue would be most “volatile issue” in next year's legislative session. Remember that Grady and the Capitol are separated only by a few blocks in downtown Atlanta.

Sam Williams, president of the metro chamber, was in the audience. After the session, he said a deal on Grady is something that needs to be struck before lawmakers gather this January. Without it, he said, Grady's not likely to make it those four months.