South Georgia Gets Air Ambulance Service

A new air ambulance service in South Georgia should improve access to trauma care for people in an under served part of the state.
Interstate 75 south of Macon is often referred to as the "Death Corridor." Once you leave Middle Georgia the highway takes you through a part of the state far from a Level One trauma care center.
If you have an accident there it can take you a long time to get to a trauma center according to Crisp County Emergency Medical Services Director, David Edwards.

"Macon is the closest place for us and it's about 65 ground miles for us to transport by ground, and then we have a Level 2 trauma center which is Archibald located in Thomasville, but that's 100 miles away."

The new air ambulance service will be able to pick people up at the scene of accidents. It is owned by Missouri-based Air Evac Lifeteam which focuses on rural trauma care.

Trauma Care An Economic Issue

A group of business leaders is pressuring the General Assembly to improve Georgia' trauma care system. They say it's not just a health issue, it's also about economic development. Members include Senator Don Balfour and Medical College of Georgia President Dr. Daniel Rahn. The group says Georgia will have trouble attracting business if we can't guarantee their employees will have access to emergency care. The group plans to work with lawmakers over the next several weeks. Experts studying the issue estimate that $80 million is needed each year to adequately fund a statewide network.

Trauma commission divides funding

The distribution of supplemental funding for the state’s trauma care system was finalized today. Still, a bigger challenge remains for Georgia.

The Trauma Care Network Commission has approved a plan to divide 58-million dollars of funding across the state. The biggest slice goes to financially-strapped Grady Hospital in Atlanta. However, the 12.7 million dollars is about half of what the Level-1 trauma facility had hoped for.

Commission members had the challenge of dividing money across many different trauma centers in the state and other areas of need.

Dennis Ashley is chair of the Commission and trauma chief for Macon’s Level-1 trauma center:

"We’ve certainly shown the need, and the silos where the money need to go as far as the uncompensated care, readiness costs, EMS...these are big silos that need to be treated, or taken care of. So we need to go forward".

Atlanta’s Grady received the lion's share of funding. Second-most is 5.6 million dollars to go to Savannah’s Memorial Health, with Augusta’s Medical College of Georgia to expect around 5-million.

Still in need is a permanent funding structure for trauma care in Georgia.

Trauma chief decries lack of funding

The state trauma commission held its first post-legislative session meeting today. The mid-year budget included close to 60-million for trauma care, which is expected to fund the system through January 2009.

But lawmakers could not agree on a way to permanently fund the state's trauma care network. Dr. Patrick O'Neal is the state trauma director for the Department of Human Resources. He says the money is simply not enough to help everyone around the state.

"I don’t think we’re going to be able … this next year, to really make a dent in the death rate from trauma in Georgia. I think we're 3-5 years away from that. And, its going to take additional system changes that we don't have the funds for right now."

At its meeting, the commission decided to first spend 65-thousand dollars to evaluate all 14 existing trauma care centers and emergency medical services around the state. They want to find out what's need to put a true network together.

The Medical Association of Georgia estimates that a good trauma system could save up to 700 lives each year.

Grady Hospital takes official step to go non-profit

The transfer of Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital from its old politically-appointed board to a new non-profit model was made official Monday with the signing of a lease and transfer agreement. The lease agreement is targeted to begin on May 1st. The meeting of the Grady board yesterday also brought a commitment of 200-million dollars from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation. The money will help pay for needed infrastructure costs for the financially-troubled Level-1 trauma hospital.

Lawmakers send mid-year budget to Perdue

The state Senate voted to send the 2008 amended mid-year budget to Governor Sonny Perdue. There were some winners and some losers in the 300-million dollar package

The big winner--trauma care, which received 5-and-a-half million dollars more than the Governor asked for--now for a total of 59 million dollars. Georgia's ongoing drought was a top priority as lawmakers approved 40-million for reservoir construction and development.

Meanwhile, funding for indigent defense fell short of what the Governor requested.
Republican Jack Hill chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.

"We have settled on a figure of 2.4 million additional. This is down from the original request to the Governor of 4-million. We think that is adequate...maybe more than adequate to complete the year".

In recent days, Governor Perdue has raised concerns that the budget does not match revenue cuts. He has six days to sign or veto the budget plan.

--Valarie Edwards at the Capitol

Grady set for non-profit control

A unanimous vote last night wrapped up months of discussion on Grady Hospital’s future in Atlanta—that future will now include management by a non-profit board. The vote by Grady’s board concluded an afternoon of spirited debate, including from critics who fear this change will threaten the mission of the hospital to serve the poor.

The new non-profit board will have a lease arrangement with the current board. Of the several conditions in the deal, one calls for a commitment by state and local business, civic and charitable leaders to raise 100 million dollars in private donations over three years. Another point of the resolution requires a written commitment from top state leaders to back increased state funding of Grady--of not less than 30-million dollars a year.

Grady is one of a handful of level-1 trauma care centers in the state.

Historic vote on Grady due today

A possible new direction for financially-strapped Grady Hospital in Atlanta is on the table for a vote today. The hospital’s board is expected to meet and vote on a proposal that would hand control of the hospital over to a non-profit management group. The 115-year-old facility has been on monetary life support for some time--it has been losing money for the past several years. Grady is one of a handful of level-one trauma care centers in the state.

Grady gets boost for '08 budget

Financially-troubled Grady Hospital in Atlanta has received a boost, but not as much as officials had hoped for. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the state Department of Community Health will distribute 5.4 million dollars more for next year’s budget than this year. However, the amount is still much less than received in 2006. The federal funds for 2008 are expected to total about 73-million dollars. That is down from the 91-million amount in 2006. Grady is one of a handful of level-one trauma care centers in the state.

Plan for Grady to be presented soon

A 125-million dollar plan to help stabilize Grady Hospital in Atlanta is expected to be submitted Tuesday to the facility’s board members.

The head of Grady's Board told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the key part of the plan involves a line of credit worth 100-million dollars. She told the paper a search for long-term solutions would then be pursued.

Grady is in danger of closing by the end of the year without an infusion of money. The hospital is one of a handful of level-one trauma care centers in the state. It also serves the uninsured, and is a key teaching center for Georgia doctors.

5.3 mill on the way to cash-starved Grady

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that 5.3 million dollars in emergency funding has been approved for financially-starved Grady Hospital in Atlanta, which serves as a Level-1 trauma care center. The money was approved by the Fulton County Commission on Wednesday, and will help stem losses of at least 3-million a month. Grady has a projected shortfall of 120-million dollars, and could still struggle to make its payroll as early as October.