Grady Health System in Atlanta is the biggest trauma center in the southeast, and may have the biggest bill to pay. Analysts say it needs more than $120 million before the end of the year to meet payroll.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) fears Grady's collapse could reverberate across Georgia.
"If you, like me, have been in a car crash, you will be taken to Grady," he says in a press release. "Unfortunately, Grady itself is now on life support. It would be highly irresponsible for us to let this hospital continue operating as it is currently."
Richardson has assembled a panel of lawmakers to study the problem and recommend fixes. He says they will look at all the possibilities, including "appropriating funds if that's necessary, under a contract for services to the remainder of the state."
The Georgia government does not fund Grady. Services are subsidized by Fulton and DeKalb county taxpayers, although patients come from all of Georgia's 159 counties.
More than 75 percent of patients are on Medicaid; most of the others are uninsured. Recent reports also have blamed poor management and aging infrastructure for Grady's woes.
The five state representatives appointed to the study committee are: Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta), who is a nurse; Ben Harbin (R-Evans), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee; Melvin Everson (R-Snellville), Penny Houston (R-Nashville), and Pam Stephenson (D-Atlanta), who is a Grady trustee.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) fears Grady's collapse could reverberate across Georgia.
"If you, like me, have been in a car crash, you will be taken to Grady," he says in a press release. "Unfortunately, Grady itself is now on life support. It would be highly irresponsible for us to let this hospital continue operating as it is currently."
Richardson has assembled a panel of lawmakers to study the problem and recommend fixes. He says they will look at all the possibilities, including "appropriating funds if that's necessary, under a contract for services to the remainder of the state."
The Georgia government does not fund Grady. Services are subsidized by Fulton and DeKalb county taxpayers, although patients come from all of Georgia's 159 counties.
More than 75 percent of patients are on Medicaid; most of the others are uninsured. Recent reports also have blamed poor management and aging infrastructure for Grady's woes.
The five state representatives appointed to the study committee are: Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta), who is a nurse; Ben Harbin (R-Evans), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee; Melvin Everson (R-Snellville), Penny Houston (R-Nashville), and Pam Stephenson (D-Atlanta), who is a Grady trustee.
