The hospital has a $100 million debt. Maybe that will get some attention about the financial crisis many hospitals are facing. (via The Medical Quack)
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Well the problem is obvious: doctors are being paid way too much.
If each physician there cut their salary in half then Grady would probably only be 99 million or so in debt.
Having worked at Emory and at a Grady community site, the problem with Grady is an entitled population which has been acculturated for decades to get their care at the hospital. Diabetics and hypertensives, STD’s and vaginitides go to Grady ER for their primary care. If Grady were a state, it was said in the mid 90’s, it would have the 5th highest AIDS rate in the country. If you live in a cardboard box under the interstate connector ramps a few blocks before the infamous Grady curve, this is where you go to get a few hours heat on a cold winter’s night. Especially if you’re diabetic and you can pretty reliably bring on your DKA. In the mid-90’s a proposal to increase the co-pay for nearly free medications by a dollar (or something pretty small), there were nearly riots in the streets.
Without access to primary care for low-income individuals, costs go through the roof. Period.
The downside is we might lose the premiere trauma hospital in the state.
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