The New Grady Coalition Speaks Out

I would like to welcome Ron Marshall of the New Grady Coalition to cross post his latest piece...

The media has claimed there has been a breakthrough for Grady. The politicians say it is the beginning of a new era. Start the celebrations.

Still no one will say or explain what this incredible "Grady crisis" is really all about.The only thing I trust here is time.

The media has claimed that a private board is the only answer for Grady. But the media refuses to say why it has taken this position. I say again, show us the data that supports this is the best solution for Grady. That's all we ask! Why has the media taken an ostrich-like stand that a private board can do anything? The Grady site is starting to look like an excellent location for a twin sixty story plus tower complex.

Will money really fall out of the sky?

The media keeps parroting that a private board will bring $300 Million out of the sky. When do we look up to see the money parachuting down with “for Grady” stamped on the bags? Why would anyone donate such a huge sum to either a private or a public board, unless? Meanwhile public dollars still pay to operate Grady.

Why would the Grady board also vote to allow a lease of all power to this same invisible private unnamed secret entity? The privatization and lease passed like they were prophecy, already written. I have some serous questions about the wording of this lease! All of this was done without public input or participation. Was this even legal? Does this donor already know the secret? Why has there not been a comparison of alternatives researched or investigated?
If there is some incredible donor ready to throw an unprecedented amount of money at the charity hospital, why does that donor not reveal himself/themselves? Why does the donor not tell us why he/she/them would give to a private board and not to a public board? Does the donor like secret boards over transparent public boards?

Donors that have integrity for public facilities want accountability and hold to a high ethic standard, period. It does not make sense that a donor would only donate to a secret and unaccountable private board that has not been named unless they already know what the secret is or this is their own little secret.

Emory medical school and Morehouse claim that Grady owes them millions of dollars. Please show some independent accounting to prove otherwise. Prove it!

The majority of the Grady debate has gotten sidetracked onto this irrelevant debate of private v. public. No one has shown us why these Business Captain’s voted on one system that will generate these huge donations. The media claims there will be donations, but we expect the media to show us proof.

We expect independent journalism to get to the bottom of the "money will fall from the sky" concept. The media must truly investigate and report.


Where is the JCAHO report?

Another layer getting lost in the middle of this is the JCAHO report that shows that medical care at Grady is incredibly substandard, and that Emory is not fulfilling its bargain to provide credible medical care at this hospital. Emory, these are your doctors treating us! When will Grady show us the JCAHO report? The failure to meet standards is the real crisis of Grady, and one that cannot be easily changed unless immediate and drastic actions are taken, immediately! If steps are not immediately taken, Grady will face the prospect of being the next hospital after King Drew to fail. Again if Grady fails this is an excellent location for twin sixty+ story towers to show off the ATL.

Did Story resign or was he sacked for his conscience?The other real Grady crisis is that the fourth Grady CEO in two years has resigned at the peak of Grady's troubles. For Otis Story to resign on the very day Grady took this huge step to privatize the hospital hit us like getting hit with lighting in the same place twice. Grady needs to reveal if Story resigned in protest, or if Story was blitzed and sacked because he refused to go along with the secret program. Is Otis Story goi ng to be paid to keep quit like the others before him?

Stephenson's blatant conflict of interest harms the public.

Topping this entire crisis, the Chief Trustee of Grady, Ms. Pam Stephenson has made herself the CEO of Grady. This is a blatant conflict of interest.

Ms. Stephenson needs to immediately respond to more than 50 open records requests the New Grady Coalition filed that she has stonewalled while the Chief Trustee at Grady. She needs to immediately rehire the main whistleblower who tried to prevent the current crisis, ex-Senor Vice President Ms. Joyce Harris.

The media must ask the hard questions now.

The public needs answers now. What is the private board supposed to do? Why is the AJC and the rest of the media so narrowly focused on coronating Pete Correll in a private position at Grady? Look at the connections! Why does the AJC and the rest of the media not admit that a private board amounts to "privatization"?

The public trust is at stake. It is high time that the AJC and the rest of metro Atlanta's media find the real answers, and compare the real alternatives. Someone is planning to make a lot of money off this private board scheme, and it is high time the media find out who is going to benefit and reveal it to the public.

Ron echos much of what I have been saying. I myself have also pointed that privatizing Grady Hospital is nothing but a fallacy that will allow Grady to act private when it wants to be private and public when it needs money. In fact, JCAHO's refusal to release the very report that Ron speaks of is exhibit A why Grady cannot be allowed to go private. JCAHO enjoys a similar status to the one the powers that be want for Grady. I, too, have spoken out about the Atlanta media's refusal to aggressively report on the obscene corruption currently going on there.

Let's hope we see some answers soon. For a detailed summary of the entire fiasco please read this...