Countdown begins for Atlanta Medical Middle shutdown
In simply 60 days, Wellstar’s Atlanta Medical Middle will formally be shutdown. FOX 5 Atlanta spoke to neighborhood members and councilmembers about what this implies for residents who depend on the hospital.
ATLANTA – The countdown to closure is on for Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center Downtown. In precisely 60 days Wellstar plans to close the hospital down.
“I am positive it’ll be a nasty factor for lots of people,” mentioned Erica Youngblood.
Youngblood’s husband has been a affected person at AMC for greater than 50 days. She worries about what the influence shall be as soon as the hospital folds.
“There is a want,” she mentioned. “Grady cannot deal with everyone and there is plenty of trauma in our metropolis.”
Wellstar introduced Wednesday that AMC would shut its doorways for good on November 1. They are saying the most important purpose comes all the way down to {dollars} and cents. Wellstar says the hospital misplaced greater than $100 million final 12 months, and so they haven’t been capable of finding methods to maintain the hospital sustainable.
Atlanta Metropolis Councilwoman Liliana Bakhtiari who represents District 5, which the hospital is in, says the town was blindsided.
“My concern is the folks that can find yourself dying due to this, that individuals will find yourself bleeding out on the road due to crime or gunshot wounds or different incidents due to this,” she mentioned.
A lot of these folks should flip to Grady, which is already busy.
Wellstar Atlanta Medical Middle Downtown in Atlanta (FOX 5).
In a essential assertion, Grady Well being System wrote “… this choice by Wellstar to desert the neighborhood will additional pressure our operations, significantly our emergency room, as extra sufferers will current with medical wants…”
AMC’s closure has the potential to influence minority and underserved communities probably the most.
“My concern is as soon as once more how we’re failing our low-income residents, and this once more sends the message that since you’re barely surviving, we’re not going that can assist you,” Councilwoman Bakhtiari mentioned.
Whereas Wellstar appears adamant that the hospital will shut down on November 1st, Councilwoman Bakhtiari want to see a compromise that may shield affected person care in Atlanta.
Atlanta Medical Middle Downtown is closing, says Wellstar, workers had no concept
Workers inform FOX 5 that they had no concept Wellstar deliberate to close down Atlanta Medical Middle, which can shut its doorways by fall. This can be a growing story.
Wellstar ought to strive “to maintain their emergency response open for at the least one other 8 months to a 12 months whereas we quickly all work collectively to try to pay right into a bond or do some fundraising for Grady to permit them to increase as shortly as doable,” she mentioned.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has demanded a gathering with Wellstar management in hopes of determining a path ahead.
