This story has been updated to reflect that East Point Mayor Deana Holiday Ingraham is not aware of the details of City Councilman Joshua Butler IV’s plan to bring a new hospital to East Point.
East Point is working to find a way to reopen a health care facility in Atlanta Medical Center’s East Point campus to serve communities south of I-20. One councilman says he already has a commitment for $15 million to help finance the plan.
“When we found out that the hospital was closed, I knew that this was a problem we had to solve,” said East Point City Councilman Joshua Butler IV. “It’s not a quick and easy fix, but we are in the beginning of doing something really big.”
According to Butler, the closure of Atlanta Medical Center-South hospital in May left more than 200,000 residents in south Fulton County without a hospital and emergency room services. The hospital was the only emergency room within Fulton County south of I-20.
Wellstar Health System, which owned AMC-South, replaced the hospital with an urgent care clinic, Wellstar East Point Health Center.
Buying the former hospital buildings and land are part of Butler’s plan to restore a full-service hospital to East Point. But the plan is in its early stages and much work remains to determine its feasibility.
As part of the plan, Butler is exploring whether a new hospital authority could be established to create funding for a new hospital. Creating a hospital authority requires at least two municipalities, and Butler told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he would like to partner with the City of South Fulton initially, with hopes to expand the authority to all cities in south Fulton County.
Forming a new authority would allow funding from the state and federal levels to flow into a new hospital, ensuring it would be financially secure and that the quality of care would remain high, according to Butler.
Legislative approval is required to create a hospital authority. State Senator Donzella James, D-Atlanta, said she has met with Gov. Brian Kemp’s office to get support on the effort. She told The Atlanta Journal Constitution that her constituents want a hospital, and she is working to get them one.
“This is a main priority for now, and especially for the 2023 legislative session,” she said. “Getting the authority together and passed.” Her district, Senate District 35, covers South Fulton and other parts of south Fulton County.
“I thought about a hospital authority because with us leaders, it would be easier for us to raise the funds, if we needed to, on a public and private basis,” James said.
City councils in both East Point and South Fulton must vote to form the hospital authority that would establish the hospital, but no dates have been set for a vote.
South Fulton Mayor Kahlid Kamau would not speak to the AJC about the proposal. In a text he said,” I have had no conversations with city council or staff about creating a hospital authority.”
East Point Mayor Deana Holiday Ingraham told the AJC that she agrees a hospital and emergency room services need to return to the former Atlanta Medical Center site on Cleveland Avenue, but she first wants to ensure that a new hospital will be financially sustainable.
“We need more information,” she said. “We can’t create documents or sign resolutions about things that we don’t know the feasibility on.” Holiday Ingraham added she is not aware of the details of Butler’s plan, but is open to exploring a hospital authority, as well as other options.
Butler said he has already consulted with a hospital expert to determine how much money might be required to start a new hospital, however he would not name the expert. He said an investment firm that provides funds to municipalities for infrastructure “has already committed” $15 million of an estimated $38 million to $52 million that would be needed to operate the hospital for 24 months. He said that estimated range includes money to provide indigent care.
Butler does not have an estimated cost to cover the purchase of the former AMC buildings and land on Cleveland Avenue from Wellstar Health System, or the cost of obtaining a certificate of need, which is required to expand or open health care services and facilities in Georgia.
“I am very confident that with the right structure, Wellstar will be more than amenable to make the purchase price something that can be affordable for everybody,” he said.
Mayor Ingraham said she plans to bring the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority into future City Council discussions to gain insight on how to run and fund a viable hospital authority. Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority funnels tax dollars from Fulton and DeKalb counties into Grady Memorial Hospital.
Butler said he and his partners recognize the financial complications that come with operating a hospital in a state such as Georgia, without Medicaid expansion. They hope to establish specialty services that will attract patients from across the metro area to seek out care.
An issue that Atlanta Medical Center South faced during its operation was the cost of caring for uninsured and underinsured patients who came to the emergency room for issues that a primary care doctor normally address. Wellstar said it closed the hospital due to lower than average levels of patient admissions, as well as a staff shortage. Wellstar has said people in East Point can access care elsewhere.
The overall process is in its early stages, but Butler and James said they are confident that their work will pay off.
“We can make this happen,” Butler said. “We shouldn’t be begging for health care in 2022.”
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