Health care dominated the State of Fulton County 2023 address from Fulton Commission Chairman Robb Pitts on Wednesday, and at the center of that issue was Wellstar Health Systems’ closure last year of the downtown Atlanta Medical Center and Atlanta Medical Center South in East Point.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and exacerbated health disparities, Pitts told a crowd of several hundred local business and government leaders gathered at Flourish Atlanta.
“And then, just as we began to emerge from the pandemic, we were shocked by the closure of not one but two hospitals in central and south Fulton County,” he said.
A joint study by the county and Morehouse School of Medicine found those closures disrupted health care systems region-wide, worsening disparities and limiting health care access for tens of thousands, Pitts said.
“We now have a literal health care desert in central and south Fulton County,” he said.
Connected to that is a five-year shorter average lifespan for residents of those areas than for north Fulton County, which is served by several Wellstar hospitals.
“No one should die early because of their ZIP code,” Pitts said, garnering applause.
The county has partnered with Morehouse School of Medicine to open a new primary care clinic in East Point, and is working with Grady Memorial Hospital to open two more such clinics in central and south Fulton.
“Stay tuned. There’s much, much more to come,” Pitts said.
Pitts called on state officials to help fund health care — and hospitals — by expanding Medicaid.
Georgia is one of 11 states that has not fully accepted Medicaid expansion under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which would bring millions more in federal funding. Georgia’s Medicaid program will partially expand in July but without additional federal funding.
The county’s needs don’t stop with physical care: “We only need to look at the headlines to see that mental health is critical,” Pitts said.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Fulton already spends $16 million on mental health, Pitts said, but he announced new initiatives — including a new behavioral health crisis center.
And the county is launching a mobile mental health unit, a big blue bus with “Are you OK?” on the side. It was parked outside the event as listeners left.
The morning event was put on by the Council for Quality Growth.
Pitts also went through other highlights of the coming year. Soon the county will open its new Election Central warehouse hub, bringing all election operations under one roof, he said.
The $300 million expansion of the Big Creek Water Reclamation Facility in north Fulton is underway, increasing its capacity from 24 million gallons per day to 32 million. And the county is expanding sewer service in south Fulton County, part of a $1 billion countywide investment in water infrastructure, Pitts said.
He touted a $1 million commitment to a tiny-house development in College Park, a pilot project of six to eight houses on a half-acre; and $150 million in investments along the Fulton Industrial Boulevard corridor, including $40 million for a new and larger animal shelter to open this year.
“It will be one of the finest animal facilities in the world, right here in Fulton County,” Pitts said.
Without going into specifics, he said he hopes to make Fulton the “autonomous and electric vehicle capital of the world.”
Finally Pitts went into two related trouble spots for the county: jail overcrowding and a court backlog. They’re “making progress” on both, he said.
A backlog in all county courts due to COVID-19 shutdowns had surpassed 200,000 cases by June 2022. The county devoted $75 million in federal funds to handling that, dubbed “Project ORCA.” So far that has cleared more than 100,000 cases, Pitts said.
He said county commissioners are also in “serious discussions” about the decrepit and woefully overcrowded Fulton County Jail. Other commissioners and Sheriff Patrick Labat have endorsed a consultant’s call for a new, $2 billion jail with greatly expanded medical care, mental health and other services.
Pitts, however, wants to renovate existing facilities, convert a homeless shelter near the current main jail into a lockup, lease space in the area’s city jails and possibly buy the former Atlanta City Detention Center.
Pitts acknowledged there are different perspectives on the right approach, but “the status quo is not working.”
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