Disappointment With State Trauma Failure as Grady Moves Forward

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – A day after Grady Health Systems took another definitive step toward new management, lawmakers are still reeling from their failure to fund Georgia's trauma hospitals for years to come.

At a Grady board meeting on Monday, there was a sense that the state had failed to do its part to help the financially ailing hospital. State Senator Vincent Fort used strong language he says state leaders threatened Grady, then reneged on their promise of trauma legislation:

FORT: These people who made the threats, have an obligation to fulfill their promises.

State Senator Cecil Staton says he and others intend to:

STATON: We're gonna be back, we're gonna fight another day, and we'll certainly continue to be advocates for a permanent funding source for trauma.

Staton was part of the conference committee that, late Friday, reached a compromise with House members to fund Georgia's trauma system using the state's quarter mil property tax. It would have brought an estimated 90 million dollars for trauma hospitals. Grady could have received upward of 20 million.

Staton says that Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson snuffed out the bill because it did not include a cut in the car tax. Richardson was not available for comment. House Majority Leader Jerry Keen did not respond to interview requests.