State lawmakers studying Georgia's growing doctor shortage say Atlanta's financially troubled Grady Hospital is critical to training physicians across the state.
Researchers told the state house committee that Georgia needs more physicians to keep pace with its growing and aging population. They say Grady Hospital's residency program attracts young doctors who otherwise would not come to Georgia. Presidents of Morehouse School of Medicine and Emory's medical school say Grady is a "magnet" for doctors, and the loss of the public hospital training program would give them "heartburn." Yet local officials say Grady may close at the end of the year unless it gets more that $120 million.
State Rep. Barry Fleming, the committee chair, was listening.
"There's not a better teaching program probably in the Southeast than in Grady as far as educating doctors on how to work on patients," Fleming said during a break in the meeting. "That's why the health of Grady is vital."
Fleming says Georgia should shore up current programs, including Grady's residency training, before launching new ones. He represents Harlem, a suburb of Augusta, and supports an expansion of the Medical College of Georgia there. But eventually, Fleming says, the state will need a second public medical school at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Researchers told the state house committee that Georgia needs more physicians to keep pace with its growing and aging population. They say Grady Hospital's residency program attracts young doctors who otherwise would not come to Georgia. Presidents of Morehouse School of Medicine and Emory's medical school say Grady is a "magnet" for doctors, and the loss of the public hospital training program would give them "heartburn." Yet local officials say Grady may close at the end of the year unless it gets more that $120 million.
State Rep. Barry Fleming, the committee chair, was listening.
"There's not a better teaching program probably in the Southeast than in Grady as far as educating doctors on how to work on patients," Fleming said during a break in the meeting. "That's why the health of Grady is vital."
Fleming says Georgia should shore up current programs, including Grady's residency training, before launching new ones. He represents Harlem, a suburb of Augusta, and supports an expansion of the Medical College of Georgia there. But eventually, Fleming says, the state will need a second public medical school at the University of Georgia in Athens.
