Health Experts and Advocates Weigh in on Grady's Future

By Michelle Wirth

Atlanta, GA – Grady Health System's new Chief Operating Officer, Mark Chastang started Monday. In the meantime, the health system has started a nationwide search for a new CEO. WABE spoke with health care experts and community advocates about the future of the hospital.

Reverend Timothy McDonald co-chairs the Grady Coalition. He says Grady is much better off financially than it was two and a half years ago when outgoing CEO Michael Young started. But he says the new CEO will need a different skill set to move the hospital forward.

"Mike Young brought in some good financial skills. He had some challenges with his relational skills. What Grady needs to look for is somebody who hopefully can combine both of those skills."

In addition to those skills, Health care experts say one of the biggest challenges the new CEO will face is changes to the federal health care law. Ken Thorpe is a professor of Health Policy at Emory University:

"There's going to be a continued need to really look closely at cost and to try to make the institution as efficient as possible, but also to position it going forward to be something that tries to attract more people with private health insurance."

Thorpe says Grady will have to market areas it excels in, such as surgical services and cardiovascular surgery. Advocates say Grady will also need to improve community perception in order to become more competitive. Bill Custer is Director of the Center for Health Services Research at Georgia State University.

"The perception is that they are the hospital of last resort and that has to be addressed, and that requires internal changes."

Grady Board chair Pete Correll says the health system has been making those changes and working to improve public perception for the past few years. He says the changes include decreased hospital wait times, the revitalization of several outpatient health clinics and dozens of new and enhanced services, such as a sroke and neuroscience center. Corell says the new CEO will have to be someone who can rally the community.