Atlanta coalition says no to hospital cutbacks

Over the last year, some of the largest Atlanta banks, corporations and property developers working through the Chamber of Commerce forced the privatization of the city’s public hospital, Grady Hospital, by promising large infusions of capital, greater efficiency and no cuts in services to the poor. However, the hospital administration is preparing to drastically lower the income level at which poor and indigent patients receive free care.

The Grady Coalition, which mobilized against the privatization, held a well-attended press conference on Dec. 18 to denounce these proposals, which would require a person making more than $13,000 a year to pay as much as 25 percent of their annual income for incurred medical expenses. Community organizations urged people to turn out for the Jan. 5 board meeting to defeat the cutbacks.

—Report and photo by Jimmy Raynor