Dialysis Complaint Tries to Bring Patients to the Table

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – Those who secured a court order to stop Grady from closing its outpatient dialysis clinic say they're just trying to bring patients and hospital board members to the same table. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville granted the temporary injunction yesterday.

WABE's Odette Yousef reports.

The complaint was filed on behalf of two unnamed and uninsured, female immigrants who rely on the center. It cites Grady's efforts to move them to other states or their home countries for treatment, or to extend only emergency dialysis. It says those efforts "are causing and have caused immediate and irreparable injury to Jane Doe I and II..."

Lindsay Jones, their attorney, says there are others in the same spot:

JONES: This litigation is really about enabling people who are poor in their literacy, don't speak the language, and who have been negotiating with the hospital at arm's length, with no real understanding of what's going on.

The center serves 96 people and was slated to close on Sunday, but the court has ordered it to remain open until Wednesday. That's when both parties will have a hearing on the matter.

The center is the only option for uninsured dialysis patients in the area, but it loses the hospital between $2 and $4 million a year.

Odette Yousef, WABE News.