Voters Beware!
After seeing the results of the last eight years we must start recognizing when to rid ourselves of the potential/want to be representatives before they get started. This is an important year and the candidates are lining up to fill the seats of the either non productive or corrupt politicians that have destroyed our most worshipped promise “Serve the people”.

First we continue to keep an accused rapist on the ballot, Vernon Jones as if it never happened. My how we forget! Now there is another potential candidate looking for support that has a very checkered past. This is directly in line with the governmental entity that is in charge of taking care/watching over of our children and families of our metro area.

The Potential Candidate
Have you heard the news the so called "insiders" of the Democratic Party are about to settle on a candidate to take on Saxby Shameless? (AJC political insider March 2nd 2008)
Word is former DHR Commissioner Jim Martin is taking their bait, and busy trying to drum up support with his former colleagues at the Gold Dome. Now let’s be grow ups and analyze this. The Martin brothers are back in full affect.

Before anybody gets too excited, they ought to remember why Jim Martin resigned as Commissioner of Human Resources. (AJC Sept 19th 2003).
Upon his forced resignation, the paper wrote "The agencies headed by Blount-Clark and Martin have attracted intense criticism since the deaths this summer of two metro Atlanta toddlers who had been in state care. In August, DFCS fired two caseworkers after the death of 2-year-old Kyshawn Punter of DeKalb County.

Our children Died
The child had been returned to his home twice although his stepfather had been accused of beating him. The child died Aug. 14. The stepfather, Shaun Stewart, 25, has been charged with murder. A month earlier, 2-year-old Caleb Woods of Douglas County died July 13 after being severely beaten, during a two-week period authorities said.

Daniel Brian Appleby, 23, the boyfriend of the child's mother, has been charged with murder. DFCS workers previously had received seven complaints about the boy's welfare. A DFCS case manager resigned over the handling of that case).111Martin's leadership at DHR, if you can call it that, was dismal. Among his obvious failures, was the inability to turn the tide on child abuse. When Martin resigned, the AJC and other media wrote that "The percentage of abused children who get abused again has been rising since 1999 in Georgia. Four years ago, the rate of repeat abuse was 4.2 percent, and this year it's up to 5.7 percent..." Is this the kind of representation we want? This is what we already have.

Those were the obvious failures.

It didn't take too much digging to find something less obvious, but just as egregious.
In August of 2003, just before Martin's resignation, news media investigated and broadcast allegations that DHR and DFACS, under Martin's direction, was allowing a computer system that helped the state's most at-risk families apply for Medicaid, to remain off-line or broken down. The WSB report, (which coincidentally was delivered by former reporter and current Senate Candidate Dale Cardwell) had this to say "

"It's a story Georgia leaders say they'd rather not discuss. Thousands of state workers twiddling their thumbs, because the computers you pay for, often don't run."
See link to story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH0zQUlw6zM

Jim Martin said: "There are some inconveniences to some of our employees when our computers down. I understand that, but that's not the story."

Reporter: "Workers who called us disagree. They say Georgia's "Success" computer program, which compiles eligibility data for Medicaid and food stamps, is often off-line. Leaving state workers idle for hours."

Martin maintained the computer problem was not serious, and that they were "going to deal with them," but WSB documented that the computers had been down a whopping 66.3 hours in July, and 12 business hours during the first week of August. In effect, it prevented tens of thousands of Georgia's families from signing their children up for Medicaid, or putting food on their table through the food stamp program when the state was suffering from a significant recession.

Sound familiar? Wasn't it Republican Saxby Chambliss who voted against expanding the S-Chip program which provides Medicaid funded health care to thousands of Georgia families?

WSB's Report documented that Martin's department was in effect, helping Georgia's new Republican Governor cut costs behind the scenes, hidden from the public, by keeping their computer system off-line. Haven’t we had enough of the secret deals being made?

How many families and single mothers sat in DFACS lobbies that summer and fall waiting for Martin's computer system to return to service?

The media again dropped the ball and here we go agan.

So the question is this: Why should Georgia's Democratic Party recruit an "insider" to take on Saxby Chambliss when they already have a Senator who will deny health care to Georgia's children?
Come on' Democrats, not again!

State Hearings into Grady Giveaways now urgent

By Ron Marshall

Just when we thought things couldn't get worse in the Grady fiasco, Channel Two's Richard Belcher broke the news that I have been saying for years on March 7, 2008. A no-bid contract for more than one quarter of a Billion dollars was awarded to a close contact of Grady Trustee Clayton Sheppard. Why is it taking so long for everyone to see what’s happening here! The picture is very clear. Grady will be moved from its location to rid the city of its poor.

The one quarter of a billion giveaway: $ 250,000,000.00 dollars.

How can Grady afford any no-bid giveaways while it is going broke? This is not the first time this has happened. Only state hearings can shine a light onto what is happening.

Georgia Legislature must hold hearings before a single additional bill is passed, or new deal is made, or a single new preposterous claim is made claiming that a mysterious unknown donor is going to bail Grady out. The business captains are making it clear. They are expecting massive contracts and other giveaways in return. Or, at least it appears that conflict of interest is ruling this entire process. Being stupid will kill more people than greed.

Other giveaway no-bid crooked deals at Grady are legendary. Former Georgia State Majority leader Charles Walker had extorted millions of no-bid contracts. Georgia politicians including Larry Walker received no-bid contracts. Grady's biggest open-ended no bid contract to Emory University for more than $50 Million a year. Rumor has it that Pamela S. husband has receive 100ks of contracts from Grady. The pond is shrinking and there’s only enough room for the big fish.

Despite this incredible amount of money paid to Emory, the JCAHO and other federal investigators have found Emory's care at Grady is so sub-standards, JCAHO is considering pulling Grady's accreditation. If JCAHO does this, all other discussions are moot. That would be the end of Grady. After six months, still no one has said a word about these missing reports. The Grady site is again starting to look like a sixty story plus twin tower complex. The picture is very clear to me on where the finish line will be.

Grady Stonewalls on its Giveaways

The New Grady coalition has submitted more than 50 open records requests since 2004 and just recently again requesting reports to now-Grady CEO Pam Stephenson asking for the internal report Grady conducted on its no-bid contracts to all-connected entities, including Emory. Grady has failed to respond to a single Open Records request. Why? Well it seems we now know the answer. Grady Chief Counsel Tim Jefferson has led the stonewalling, and actually responded with threats.

Why hasn’t Grady released audits of its pension fund? Has the pension fund been raided as part of the giveaway program?

The people of Georgia deserve hearings to expose why the management at Grady, routinely violate the open records laws. No one, not even Stephenson and Jefferson, are above the law. Immediate release of all records is demanded!

Tom Bell: The Ultimate Giveaway to Crawford Long?

Incredibly, Grady suggests that Tom Bell, chairman of the board and CEO of Cousins Properties, should serve as a board member. According to their company's web site Cousins-owns 50 percent of the Emory Crawford Long Medical Office Tower . Can you here me now?

Bell has a huge financial interest in seeing that paying patients from Grady are continued to be siphoned off to his own facility Crawford Long. This would be like putting a Japanese auto CEO on the board of General Motors.

Is Bell planning to hollow out Grady from the inside? Certainly, Crawford Long has made no secret of its business plan to siphon any paying patient from downtown Atlanta . Then Bell turns around and criticizes Grady for not have paying patients! We need to have state hearing just on Bell 's conflicts of interest alone.

Pete Correll: Giveaways to Emory?

But wait. Business leaders also claim the only person who could lead Grady is Pete Correll. Pete Correll serves on the Medical Advisory Board of Emory's medical school, Grady's largest contractor. No man can serve two masters. Grady needs a leader committed to Grady only.

Emory's medical students: The future of Georgia

I commend the hundreds of medical students who have turned out to support the future of Grady. I'm sure these courageous medical students don't support giveaways of the precious resources of Grady to politically-connected business lords. Grady is too precious. The future of Grady and the future of our doctor-students are on the line. Students don’t believe what’s being told to you. That's why I'm glad that dozens of student doctors are joining the New Grady Coalition daily.

AJC & other media: Time to expose giveaways

For more than a year, the AJC and other media have claimed that privatizing Grady would lead to a donation of $300 million dollars. Now, we know that there is no money on the table. The AJC and other media networks must retract its hundreds of false statements, and explain why it has published and broadcasted unsupported claims that have led to passage of laws based on the media’s false promises. Are they getting no-bid contract as well?

The media needs to reveal the full extent of its own conflicts of interest, and allow its own investigative journalists to investigate their editorial boards.

Ending Retaliation against Grady employees

There is no way the public can have an honest dialog when Grady employees are threatened by Grady and prevented from telling the truth. I've published dozens of examples of Grady employees, including Grady's own former Senior Vice President, Joyce Harris, who tried to warn the public, but was brutally retaliated against.

More than 50 other Grady employees have contacted me and want to tell the truth about Grady Giveaways, but tell me of extreme threats made against them. To stop the giveaways, we must protect the truth, and protect the truth-tellers. Grady refuses to tell us the truth.

State Hearings are now the only way

It seems they are all determined to stop the public from finding out about Grady giveaways and other conflicts. No one can get to the bottom of this except the state legislature or a federal investigation.

The 300 Million Dollar Question

By Ron Marshall

Stop the presses, the media and counties have spoken. The deal has been made and all of the players have yet to be identified.  But there are some names floating around that have my hair standing up on edge.

The media has printed this statement so often that people have taken it as gospel, even though the AJC and other media have never once printed any evidence that this $300 M claim has any foundation at all.

Now, new information has emerged. The AJC and other media have lied.  The media had no evidence that anyone was going to give $300M, because no one ever had promised to give such an enormous amount of money.  I have always known you can tell me what to believe but not what to think!

Finally, a writer, from The Atlanta Progressive News (February 24, 2008) has published the truth: the business captains never intended to give more than $50M in any given year, period.  We must go back and remember the call to “save Grady by November or the hospital will close”. it is now February and no money has drop from the sky and the hospital is still operating so was this the old George Bush scare tactic?   We must find the weapons or they will attack, well they have attacked and the take over has been completed, we have yet to count the wounded.  It was also blessed by both counties and the media.

$50 million is a lot of money, of course. But it isn't enough to save the hospital which is $200M in debt. So what gives? This is what we have been told without seeing any books or records to support this claim. Why has the media not told us the truth? Why is the public being told that a masked man will give $300M if we only give him the hospital first?

Grady is an asset to the public of more than One Billion dollars. We are transferring all power of the largest public asset in the state to private control for a much smaller amount of money that has been promised.

The other thing is the deal allows this multi billion dollar facility to be rented for $2.5M a year, this is well below market rate.  Every commercial building in the downtown metro area is going for $15-$25 a square foot. But a hospital fully staffed and operating will bring $150-$250 a square foot. That means that Grady is being rented for far less than market value at about two dollars a square foot.  So instead of giving the market rate funding to the indigent they again get left overs, the scraps from the table of the business lords.

This is not the way to do business. I don't think we should let any donor tell us we must pass laws or decide rates they will pay. That is not the democratic way. If our police department ran short of money, would we privatize just to get a donation? Would we privatize our fire department and city hall? No, when we have basic public services, we the public must pay for them.

We invaded Iraq without examining the evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction. The experts told us "trust us, we know they are there". This has been the problem with back room government by the good ole boys.

Open government is what makes democracy great. We need to see the evidence, we need to see the contracts, we must be told who is behind a deal and why.

There is nothing wrong with business men trying to make money. However, it is horribly wrong for the media to conceal the truth to help corporations pull a bait and switch on the public.

No one would give away a Billion dollar hospital, which sits on choice downtown property, to an unnamed group for $50 Million dollars…unless?

Let me go a little further, even under the best circumstances, it appears the so-called business captains have prepared to raise $50 Million a year for three years. The rumor is that this money may be coming from the Woodruff foundation (Emory). The best information is that the Chamber of Commerce's Grady Task force is made up primarily of Crawford Long and Emory-affiliated members. Crawford Long is in direct competition with Grady.  So what do you think is going to happen next?

But we should not be dealing in rumors-only facts.

This is the biggest deal in recent Georgia history, and the public deserves to know all the facts. Why has the media not published what it knows? Why does it not publish its sources? How can it repeat the $300 million dollar lie every day?

The terms of the Bailout must be known in advance.

Grady is important, but the truth is even more important. Our leaders told us to just "trust us" in national calamity after calamity. Now, the people need to know all the specifics. A contract must be drawn up. If we are passing laws to get a private bailout, the terms of the bailout need to be known in advance.

A large number of medical students and officials say that the private bailout is the only way. How does anyone know what the bailout is until the terms are published? This could be like throwing a drowning man a pail of water instead of a lifeline.

Will the bailout help Grady or sink it? We know the Grady task force is made up of Grady competitors. We don't mind business men making a buck- but they need to show us the deal first, or the public must say no deal.

                The New Grady Coalition Speaks out

              Who are these masked men?

         By Ron Marshall

People of

Atlanta

Not even a peep of opposition from the media on how this just keeps moving forward without public input or participation from any public entity. Why hasn’t the media itself tried to find the pros and cons of such a deal?  I have been hustled before but it usually happens in a dark alley or on a pool table.  This is happening live on every channel and in every newspaper, but no reporter can identify the masked team that will create this $300 million miracle.

If the state representatives don’t stop this parade down a dead end alley and immediately hold hearings while they are in session, then we must demand the federal government step in and get some answers or get to the bottom of this mystery deal and shine the light on the players and who plans to benefit from this hush-hush deal.  I have little faith in what I am seeing!  Again the only thing I trust is time. The majority of our state leaders have hovered over this show for more than a year and have yet to act with much concern or conviction.  I remember when the Indians were told don’t worry we will take good care of all of you. 

The media exist to unmask masked men, get to the truth, even if they might be the potential big-time donors. How does the public know who is under the mask? How does the public know if the masked donor is wonderful or merely a commerce cattle rustler? Could somebody on the Commerce board be trying to conduct commerce? Would businessmen ever try to make a buck while conducting business?

I'm part Cherokee Indian, and we learned early on that even if it is voted on or signed you can’t trust it.  I really get worried when some other members of this same board leave do to personal interest and quietly ride off into the sunset. 

Trusting Strangers with Millions is how the Indians lost this country

Even Tonto learned not to turn over his home to an unknown man who says "trust me. Give me the deed to all your land, and I'll give you millions of dollars". We have to know who we are dealing with, conduct due diligence, see if all parties can deliver. We need to see the proposed treaty, examine it, and make sure it can't be changed. Will the Great fathers in the Commerce Committee keep their word? Or will Georgians end back on a trail of tears?

In the business captains we trust. Everyone else has to show facts. The media is asking

Atlanta

I don't mean to be cynical. This is going even farther than the Indian deal.  The Indians believed in the blank contract.  Someone is going to end up with a Billion dollar public asset (

Grady

When will the media start being that independent and incorruptible check on the power of both the elites and the power of government? Until printed claims without any proof can be, the public can't have any confidence in either their media or their government.  We witnessed the history of your claims.

Where is the JCAHO report? Did the Hamburgler take it?

The most astonishing failure to report is the media's failure to obtain the JCAHO report that declares medical care at Grady substandard. Why does the media and the state not use its investigative powers to get to the bottom of the real story?  If these two entities fail we must bring in the feds. Why is there a failure from the media to report on many federal and state investigations of Grady that have all come to the same conclusion? Why is the media fixated on creating the private board, when the real story is the lack of adequate care and employee protection at the $700 Million a year

Grady

Grady is like the damsel in distress tied to the railroad tracks. Yet, the masked man claims he can do nothing until the train is run by a private board! Worse, the masked man is demanding to marry the damsel before he unties her!

Is there a conflict here?

To the newly self-appointed Grady CEO, Pam Stephenson, what a bold move. Stephenson claims she is the new Marshal at Grady and she sees no conflict of interest, now we don't know if she is working with the men in the black hats or the white hats. Has Mrs. Stephenson filed her financial disclosure with the ethics board? We do know that this new Marshal refuses to obey Open records laws.  The New Grady coalition wants to get to the facts, but we don't have the resources of the media. We need a posse.  State, feds please help us.

The people of

Georgia

Whoever the media thinks it’s going to poney up the astounding amount of $300 Million needs to be named. Whoever is going to give that money is expecting something.  What?

The New Grady Coalition Speaks out

Too Many Questions Remain!

By Ron Marshall

The media has claimed there has been a breakthrough for Grady. The politicians say it is the beginning of a new era.  Start the celebrations.

Still no one will say or explain what this incredible "Grady crisis" is really all about.
The only thing I trust here is time.

The media has claimed that a private board is the only answer for Grady.  But the media refuses to say why it has taken this position.  I say again, show us the data that supports this is the best solution for Grady. That’s all we ask! Why has the media taken an ostrich-like stand that a private board can do anything?  The Grady site is starting to look like an excellent location for a twin sixty story plus tower complex.

Will money really fall out of the sky?

The media keeps parroting that a private board will bring $300 Million out of the sky. When do we look up to see the money parachuting down with “for Grady” stamped on the bags? Why would anyone donate such a huge sum to either a private or a public board, unless? Meanwhile public dollars still pay to operate Grady.

Why would the Grady board also vote to allow a lease of all power to this same invisible private unnamed secret entity? The privatization and lease passed like they were prophecy, already written. I have some serous questions about the wording of this lease! All of this was done without public input or participation.  Was this even legal? Does this donor already know the secret? Why has there not been a comparison of alternatives researched or investigated?

If there is some incredible donor ready to throw an unprecedented amount of money at the charity hospital, why does that donor not reveal himself/themselves? Why does the donor not tell us why he/she/them would give to a private board and not to a public board? Does the donor like secret boards over transparent public boards?

Donors that have integrity for public facilities want accountability and hold to a high ethic standard, period. It does not make sense that a donor would only donate to a secret and unaccountable private board that has not been named unless they already know what the secret is or this is their own little secret.

Emory medical school and Morehouse claim that Grady owes them millions of dollars.  Please show some independent accounting to prove otherwise.  Prove it!

The majority of the Grady debate has gotten sidetracked onto this irrelevant debate of private v. public. No one has shown us why these Business captain’s voted on one system that will generate these huge donations.  The media claims there will be donations, but we expect the media to show us proof.

We expect independent journalism to get to the bottom of the "money will fall from the sky" concept.  The media must truly investigate and report.

Where is the JCAHO report?

Another layer getting lost in the middle of this is the JCAHO report that shows that medical care at Grady is incredibly substandard, and that Emory is not fulfilling its bargain to provide credible medical care at this hospital. Emory, these are your doctors treating us!  When will Grady show us the JCAHO report? The failure to meet standards is the real crisis of Grady, and one that cannot be easily changed unless immediate and drastic actions are taken, immediately! If steps are not immediately taken, Grady will face the prospect of being the next hospital after King Drew to fail.  Again if Grady fails this is an excellent location for twin sixty+ story towers to show off the ATL.

Did Story resign or was he sacked for his conscience?
The other real Grady crisis is that the fourth Grady CEO in two years has resigned at the

peak

of

Stephenson's blatant conflict of interest harms the public

Topping this entire crisis, the Chief Trustee of Grady, Ms. Pam Stephenson has made herself the CEO of Grady. This is a blatant conflict of interest

If Ms. Stephenson wants to put her checkered past behind her, she needs to immediately respond to more than 50 open records requests the New Grady Coalition filed that she has stonewalled while the Chief Trustee at Grady. She needs to immediately rehire the main whistleblower who tried to prevent the current crisis, ex-Senor Vice President Ms. Joyce Harris.

The media must ask the hard questions now

The public needs answers now. What is the private board supposed to do? Why is the AJC and the rest of the media so narrowly focused on coronating Pete Correll in a private position at Grady?  Look at the connections!  Why does the AJC and the rest of the media not admit that a private board amounts to "privatization"?

The public trust is at stake. It is high time that the AJC and the rest of metro

Atlanta

By Ron Marshall

Chairman of The New Grady Coalition

It does not surprise me that Grady voted to go private.  This has been in the plan to privatize all major funding resources in

America to control how money is being spent and who receives it.  Look at

Iraq, since when do we hire a private force to protect public interest?  This has never happen in the history of war.  Who benefits from privatization? 

Grady changes have started the wheel of genocide.  A whole community will parish (poor people and poor accident victims) in the name of profits.  Not to mention the land deals that will be made.  We have put a price on human life.  Not only have we put a price on the life of an individual we allow the health care system to pick and choose who get’s treated and how much treatment they as humans receive. Animals get treated better than people.  Throw a dog in the street and see what happens.

Our Governor had the nerve to pray for rain.  The prayers should be for humanity as well as for the salvation of human life and for the protection of our planet.  Now we have really fallen off the path of survival.

What’s still hidden in all of this is how did this happen and who is responsible for what happen.  This has never been asked.  If it has there sure has been very little said about the accountability of the officials who oversee Grady and the officials who appoint the board that put Grady in this position. 

Why is the public being denied access to records that will show where all the money went or is going and who is receiving it?  This is not new and it seems to happen like the migration of geese heading south every year.

Only one person was sent to prison for stealing from Grady, Charles Walker.

Walker did not steal all that money by himself.  He had to have help.  Somebody signed the checks and somebody got paid to keep it quiet.  Why wasn’t there an investigation conducted to find the accomplices.  This is like a private (secret) Mafia, they sacrificed one to save the rest.  I notice

Walker has not turned on his accomplices.  Is there money waiting for him when he is released?

Is having cover-up money pay for a pass as Emory has shown. They have clearly had their way with Grady’s funding with a sweet heart contract. Does being a politician automatically give you a pass when crisis’s after crisis’s shock after shock that cost tax payers millions without having them be accountable time after time.         

Now we had an explosion and Grady is on the front again.  The needs are clear, human lives are at stake.  Is there no other real time event that shows Grady at its best.

So to feel anything is like watching killings and brutality between 6-11pm live on the news or a television program. You get use to it.  The fight for justice and accountability has only hit a bump in the road, we must be protectors of justice and righteousness and we will accelerate ahead of corruption.   Buckle-Up. 

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

By Ron Marhsall

If you look for incompetence, disrespect and arrogance, you will see the same people that destroy independence in communities. These are the same people that infiltrate groups and organizations to destroy the mission. They come in cloaked with daggers.

Why is the nonprofit the only plan being discussed?
I always get a kick out of it when somebody loves to get attention from work performed by the people of the forest. The forest people have no big names nor do they look to be seen they just want justice. But they pay. The forest people tried to give answers to the disease that has infected Grady Hospital, and found something larger and more deadly, secrecy.

The New Grady Coalition was formed by the forest people and is a Corporation. The members have a true concern about Grady Hospital -- not use it for personal means. The New Grady Coalition invited all members from the old coalition but only a few came to us and joined. No one else not even Tim McDonald was heard from. But they are always invited to come to our meetings as well as anybody else.

There are questions that must be discussed. Why is the nonprofit the only plan being discussed? What supporting data is there that going to a private nonprofit is the best way to move all of the recovery energy towards this and only this solution? I see another cover up.

Why isn’t Emory being ask to support Grady with dollars? Remember the new extension to Crawford Long Hospital only 3 years ago at a cost of $127 million? Why would Emory build an extension to a hospital located only blocks away unless they knew where the money was coming from to finance it? If I were in control of a $750 million facility (as Emory is) I guest I could divert funds (paying patients) that should go to Grady where their really needed, instead to a new place (the new extension) and know one would ask any questions.

The idea to privatize Grady started somewhere with whom? How has it worked at hospitals similar to Grady? Again this looks like the good ole boy take down. The business captains got the Olympics to Atlanta so why can’t they get some millions? Much of what you experience is what you expect to get. We must have a positive purpose and reinforce the safety net that will catch us all when needed.

Published on: 07/02/07

By RON MARSHALL

There has been a lot of alarming news about Grady Memorial Hospital. People don't understand that Grady is not just the safety net for the poor and uninsured. It is the safety net for everyone. That's why everyone needs to be involved.
There are 46 million uninsured people in America. These people just didn't forget to get insurance. A lot can't get insurance at any price. Some uninsured people are working poor, and some are actually wealthy but still can't get insurance. No matter how well off you are, if you get very sick, and you can't work, you will eventually lose your insurance, and you will end up at a public hospital, like Grady. That is a fact.

This is not just the safety net for the poor. Grady is everyone's safety net.

We need to support Grady, we need to bail Grady out. But we first need to improve the governance.
We all know that money is spent at Grady on things that aren't right. Every dime at a public hospital
has to be spent on the people who need it. One of the reasons some Georgians don't support Grady
is the scandals of the past years. We've got to take the time to make sure these scandals are
addressed and corrected, so that Grady can move on to a new and better phase, for patients, for
taxpayers, for everyone.

For the last years, I've maintained a hotline to hear from whistle-blowers at Grady. The picture has
not been pretty. The best officers, doctors and students have been trying to do something about the
problems, and to alert the public. They haven't been treated well.

Grady, even in this emergency, is hiding from public scrutiny. At a recent board meeting, they actually
shut out the public. This is no way to treat the people you need to bail the place out. If you want to
have the public bail the hospital out, the people must be let in. There must be open government.
They must open their books, their files, and stop the stonewalling. Accountability and the safety net
go together.

We also need to avoid giving people an excuse not to support Grady. We can't make this an "us"
versus "them" issue. We have met the patients, and they are us! Well, I've met the solution, and they are us!
This is a public institution, supported by the public, and we've got to make people understand they have a stake in Grady. Even if you never step into Grady, you need to know that safety net is there. If you, your mother, your sister or your brother got so sick they lost their insurance,they need to know that safety net is there. If you are burned so badly other hospitals can't help, you need to know that safety net is there. If a crazy man climbs up in a tower in Buckhead and starts shooting, you need to know that Grady is there. If you are riding on a bus, and it tips over, you need to know that Grady is there.

Even if you are in New Orleans or New York City and there is a catastrophe, you need to know that there is a Grady in Atlanta that can treat casualties if needed. Public hospitals are part of our national security structure. Grady is a microcosm for our nation's health system. What we do here is going to affect others.

The taxpayer doesn't mind paying if he knows the money is going to someone who really needs it, some child, some victim, somebody who wants to recover and just needs a hand up. The taxpayer needs to know its not going into some politician's pocket. We have to have X-ray vision to stop any possibility that patronage will ever happen again. We've got to restore trust by opening the books, so that people will then go and open their pockets.

We know Grady is near bankruptcy. But for Grady to get more, it has to do more. All Grady patients need to know they are going to get the same basic care people get around the rest of the city. The doctors and nurses have to be of the same quality. The doctors and nurses have to be able to speak up on behalf of the patients. Recently, a doctor at Grady was found to be a pedophile, and was not sanctioned by Grady,or screened by Grady for his behavior. Surely, the community can expect more.

Since 2004, I have served as the chairman of a citizen coalition that stands up for standards at Grady. We have been trying to prevent the very problems that have occurred by attempting to force the hospital to be more open. We have filed dozens of Open Records requests, none of which has been honored. We have offered to meet with Grady officials, and we have been rebuffed. We offered to speak at trustee meetings. We were stonewalled.

Finally, we filed ethics complaints to force the county commissioners to abide by their own rules. We are sad to say, no one would listen. Grady needs an infusion of funds, but first Grady must ensure the funds will be used to protect patient care. We need good management at Grady, and a commitment to abide by laws and standards.

Tuesday, 18 September 2007

Can Emory strike a fair deal with Grady as a true partner?
* Should Atlanta be run by the people, or by secrecy?

by, Ron Marshall, The New Grady Coalition

Atlanta's public is just discovering the fault lines between two of the historic partners for healthcare, Emory University and Grady Memorial Hospital. But this is not a new story. In 2000, Dr. Samuel Newcom of Emory University School of Medicine predicted that the expansion of Emory Crawford Long Hospital would result in “class cleansing” at Grady Memorial Hospital, with Emory cherry picking the profitable patients for Crawford Long.

Emory fired the audacious Dr. Newcom but history has proven him right.

Grady fired other doctors and administrators for speaking out, including their senior Vice President, Joyce Harris. Harris, Newcom and others who sounded the alarm that Grady was in dire straights were shown how they were appreciated. These are the kind of people we need running Grady. Emory makes great doctors, and we love Emory. But Emory has not done right by Grady. It is hard to partner with a University that insists on competing with you. Longtime Grady trustee William Loughrey recently revealed exactly how Emory pulled off this cherry picking scheme. An analysis by Deloit Consulting shows that Emory has understaffed the money making service lines at Grady, forcing Grady patients to seek care at Crawford Long or other Emory owned hospitals.

Grady trustee Dr. Christopher Edwards has publicly stated that the hospital’s biggest challenge is the fact that its “partner” – Emory University – is its biggest competitor.

Investigators with the nonpartisan Georgia Senate Research Office have shown what the community has known for years – Emory has exploited Grady through a one-sided contract where “all the benefits flow to Druid Hills.”

Emory gets use of one of the best teaching hospitals in America, absolutely rent free. Emory recruits tuition paying students all over the country with the promise of training at Grady. Then, in a weird twist, Emory charges Grady for the time its faculty members spend teaching Emory’s own students.

Emory already gets paid tuition by its students. Emory should be paying Grady instead of the other way around. But the exploitation does not stop there. Emory performs medical experiments on Grady patients and keeps all the research money and profits for itself. How much of its recent $1 billion drug discovery did Emory share with Grady? ZERO!

Consider the benefits Grady gives to Emory
* Emory charges Grady patients directly for doctor services but Grady assumes all liability for Emory’s mistakes.

* Grady pays for Emory’s malpractice insurance, and if the claims are more than the policy limits, Grady pays out of pocket.

* Emory publicly complains that Grady owes it $45 million, but Emory cannot document over 90% of that amount.

* Emory has been paid millions of dollars every year without adequate documentation.

Emory is not double dipping. Emory is triple and quadruple dipping. Emory has accumulated a huge endowment on the backs of Atlanta poor. Emory pays its top officials multi-million dollar salaries while Grady struggles to pay its nurses and janitors. Whose team are you on?

The New Grady Coalition has consistently shown that as much as 10% of Emory University’s massive endowment belongs to Grady. These funds should be transferred to the Henry W. Grady Foundation and set aside now to secure Grady’s future. Emory should forgo the $45 million in undocumented bills that it has presented to Grady and stop threatening to shut Grady down.

Emory must negotiate a new contract that is fair to Grady. Emory needs to be mindful of its nonprofit Methodist mission and stop enriching itself at Grady’s expense. It needs to end the “class cleansing” and do right by Grady.

We must envision a Grady Hospital that is dedicated to the patients and respectful of the taxpayer. Grady exists to serve the patients in an efficient manner, not as a vehicle to enrich corrupt politicians or subsidize massively endowed institutions.

Emory and Grady need each other. Grady is a superb hospital to train superb doctors, who then provide superb medical care. It can and should be a perfect partnership. However, at present one of the partners unfairly burdens Grady and the public. Let’s make things right and catch up with righteousness.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

By Ron Marshall

Here we go round the campaign bush, the every four year dance that has us all fooled in to believing something new is going to happen if you vote for me, no me, no me. There was a song that said “vote for me and I’ll set you free, rap on brothers’ rap on”. With this political race coming around and the same old faces are bubbling up. Where have they been the last four years? Most having the same old connections means we are going to have the same old results.

I wonder how many churches will have to be built before one step’s up and comments to saving our communities instead of seeing who can attract the larges congregation or be the most popular. Change your efforts please. Why haven’t these vital community resources gotten together and tried to find a solution to the crisis that has our communities spinning away into a tornado of self-destruction.

Why are we trying to save hospitals and educational facilities when it should be a way of life to have them with services that improve the quality of our lives? If your sheep are sick then they do not produce good wool. Has the sheep herder been keeping the sheep sick and in the dark so they do not question him? Why are we being stonewalled from finding out what our public money is being used for. Emory, Grady, PDK, and Marta secrets have paralyzed open and transparency laws and it seems the thought of having a Sunshine Law is a fraud.

What happen to parenting? How do we sit back and watch our children fail in the schools. Then, let the school system itself be a failure and more recently have our children fail in life and not riot before our commissions or our representatives? We all just jump on the band wagon, the one that everyone seems to hang on to for dear life when there race has the reigns. Where are the independent thinkers? You can’t pray for them to show up.

If not having water teaches us one thing it is we all need the same things and will die if we don’t have them. We must share our resources and preserve what’s left. Remember Easter Island? They used up everything and did not survive their paragon.

We took away the Native Americans’ belief that if respect the earth and each other it will give us a future. They also say our children are us. Now a days the parents and churches are teaching you must make riches and use plenty of our nature resources in the name of wealth. Who are you praying to?

Monday, December 31, 2007

By Ron Marshall

The Grady crisis has unfolded, and the media has sounded a drumbeat that we need an "independent" private board to remove the board from politics, and insulate Grady from conflict of interest.

Now, here is the flip-flop we've been predicting. Emory wants to control this board. Instead of nominating truly independent persons, the chairman nominated has been a top Emory official, and even a member of Emory's trustee board. What gives? This is the independent person we've been promised? This is not about the politics? Come on. Now we know what we suspected from day one, this is entirely about the politics, and it appears that Emory (who dominates the Grady task force) is the dominant player looking to achieve power. Emory is feeding on Grady like dolphins feed on minnows.

To be clear, this is not an attack on the man, but on the principle. The purported purpose was to get someone totally neutral. Instead, it appears Emory wants their own man to run Grady behind closed doors.

The chilling effect of a private board running a publicly-funded hospital became all too clear in the Fulton County report, in which examples are given of public hospitals that went private solely to hide their books and operations from Open Records requests. Attorney Anthony L. Cochran filed suit against Thomasville's Archbold Memorial Hospital for evading Open Records requests by establishing a private board, the exact move that Grady is attempting.

How long will Atlanta and Georgia be run by secrecy, and without open government, or behind closed doors? The Atlanta Captains are on the right track but on the wrong train.

We do not have a single detail of the purported private board plan. The Atlanta Journal Constitution is the most distinguished paper in this area, and surely, it should find out the details before it advocates a major reform. The AJC claims that "running Grady by a private board does not amount to "privatization".

Oh? What dictionary are they using? Why does the AJC continue to duck my good-faith query to find out what exactly do they mean? How can the AJC say with a straight face that private does not mean private?

I'm sure the citizens of Thomasville were also reassured that private does not mean private, and that they would always have a transparent system. Up until the day it actually became private. Then, the hospital locked their books. No one is going to see what happens in that hospital again, ever.

Do we really want the same fate for Grady?

No matter how you slice the salami, Grady is going to remain publicly funded, and thus remain a tax-payer controlled hospital. Claiming a private board will find millions or billions from thin air is a pipe dream. No sane person is going to donate the money. Our nation was founded on the idea of "no taxation without representation." The AJC calls this notion "outdated." Since when? Who is really going to pay tax dollars without representation on how Grady spends that money?

The entire private board plan appears to be an attempt to avoid oversight, regulation and accountability. No one has said what this private board will do. It is a secret. I don't like secrets. I would like Open Government, and for everything to be spelled out why we need such a board. Now the board is talking about a lease. To whom at what price? The board decided to hold a public meeting two days after Christmas, why? Trying to maintain the secret?

Private boards sure have gotten hospitals into trouble in other cities. Privatization did not work for Los Angeles. Would Grady be turned over to private interests aligned with Tenet or HCA? HMOs and private boards have created some of the worst disasters in US history. Health Corporation of America (HCA) has paid the largest criminal fines in US history, more than $1.7 Billion dollars. HCA is Emory University's largest partner. How can we be certain that HCA does not use this opportunity to eliminate Grady as a competitor, or to sell off Grady's assets, such as Grady's real estate?

Someone is going to benefit from this transfer of Grady to private hands. I hope the media will help us find out who will benefit first. It certainly looks like an attempt to put the fox in charge of the henhouse. I see another cover-up.

How could a truly private board respond to anyone? The whole point of several AJC articles seems to be that we need to insulate Grady from "politicians". But in a democracy, politicians must report to the people. How would Grady respond to the people, if it is insulated from elected politicians and the people they serve?

Again, private interests may plan to "save" Grady by chopping it up and selling its assets.

How much is Grady worth, the land and other assets.

What the plan doesn't do.

The plan ignores the issues of Emory University's one-sided contract to manage Grady, Emory's billings and the fact that Emory is Grady's chief competitor through Crawford Long Hospital. Tens of millions of dollars are being lost every year because of inadequate documentation and poor oversight. W asked to see the books many times and to this day the Grady officials have denied our request.

Emory now appears determined to pick the actual board. There is no hope of re-adjusting the relationship between Emory and Grady if Emory controls the private board controlling Grady.

Follow the awarded contracts and who is connected to them!

Mismanagement of Grady by former and current officials must be explained.
How did the past administration allow Grady to slip into a free-fall? This must be cleared up. Robert Brown and other Grady officials have never explained the corruption that led to the 2005 conviction of Charles Walker and the subsequent investigation of Grady by the federal CMS.

The New Grady coalition has submitted more than 50 open records requests, but Grady refuses to answer. Until Grady obeys open record and open meeting laws, why would the public have confidence? We want to know where all the money is going.

If Georgia's people want a private/public Grady board, we need a strong legislative oversight committee, enactment of strong conflict-of-interest laws and renegotiation of the one-sided sweetheart no-bid contracts. We need clear audits and explanations for past and present mismanagement. Nothing can be covered up. We need an absolutely clear sky.

How could any debate about a $700 Million dollar institution not be political? If people were angels, we would not need government. But, things being what they are, we need Open Government with public oversight.

We need a media that will investigate and find out exactly why Emory is attempting take advantage of this situation. We need to know our exact options, potential consequences, and then the people must decide with a vote.

Media, I ask you. Why would the task force recommend a man with incredible conflict of interest? Who is to benefit? Exactly how is this supposed to restore confidence in Grady, and how does this raise a single dime for Grady? Atlanta's Captains of Industry are telling us to "trust us." We are willing to trust them, but only if they trust us with what they are really up to.

Where is the JCAHO report?

Most important, why has the JCAHO report not been released? How can the problems at Grady be solved until the single most important document concerning Grady is released? If JCAHO actually pulls Grady's accreditation (and they very well might) saving Grady is going to be extremely expensive and possibly impossible. We need to transform this debate and make certain that Grady is brought up to code and is safe. Until that happens, nothing else matters.

We have a twin problem. We need to save Grady, but we also need to find out why the media is not asking the hard questions.