Judge has Parties Negotiate Dialysis Dilemma

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – Dozens of dialysis patients are nervously awaiting the outcome of negotiations with Grady Hospital. The hospital wants to close its outpatient dialysis center, but many patients allege that they have nowhere else to go for the vital service.

WABE's Odette Yousef reports.

The center loses 2 million dollars a year, and would have closed on Sunday, were it not for a last-minute court order. On Wednesday morning, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville finally got both parties into the same room:

GLANVILLE: Have you all talked at all amongst yourselves to see if you could potentially resolve this issue of the transition?

Attorney Lindsay Jones, for the patients, argues they weren't given enough time or room at the table to discuss other treatment options. Mark Taylor, for Grady, asked the judge to dismiss the case, saying the patients don't have a constitutional right to care, and that the non-profit hospital is not a public entity subject to laws that were cited.

A Grady spokesperson says the center will remain open until the court issue is resolved.

Odette Yousef, WABE News.