Editor’s Letter

This is no time to get sentimental

Editor’s Letter Collin Kelley has been editor of Atlanta Intown for two decades. He’s also an award-winning poet and novelist. collin@AtlantaIntownPaper.com

My first instinct was to write about holiday memories, but there’s no time for sentimentality this December. First up, there’s the Dec. 6 runoff to decide who gets Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat – Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock or GOP challenger Herschel Walker. While Democrats have locked up the Senate after the “red wave” turned out to be a drip, Warnock’s reelection would give the party more leverage in the chamber and end the need for Vice-President Harris to cast tie-breaking votes.

While the runoff might put a cap on this year’s election season, Donald Trump announcing he’s running for president again means more political chaos to come in 2023.

Closer to home, Atlanta Medical Center closed just after midnight on Nov. 1 and by early evening the signs were already being removed from the building.

It’s an inglorious end to a crucial hospital that has been part of the city for a century. More than 50% of its patients were Medicare and Medicaid recipients and nearly 70% of patients who passed through the ER were Black.

Over the summer, Wellstar reported operating losses of $114 million at AMC and another of its hospitals in East Point, which has also closed. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Wellstar still turned a profit last year, reporting an operating income of $106 million.

The city has imposed a redevelopment moratorium on the 25-acre campus while it looks for another operator rather than see the hospital demolished to make way for apartments or offices.

Grady Hospital, which received an infusion of $140 million from the state and Fulton County for a quick expansion, said it has already seen an influx of patients in its emergency department and in the number of trauma cases.

Frankly, I find it unconscionable that Wellstar made this choice when so many Atlantans are struggling with their health and medical costs. But the blame doesn’t fall completely on Wellstar. Some of it belongs to Gov. Brian Kemp.

During Kemp’s tenure, six hospitals have closed in Georgia as he continues to refuse to fully expand Medicaid. That refusal prevents Georgia from accessing billions in federal funds that would help struggling hospitals.

My hope is that another health system in the state or from somewhere in the country will rise to the occasion and put the value of citizens front and center instead of money and politics.

Happy holidays and thanks for all your support. See you in 2023.

The former Atlanta Medical Center in Old Fourth Ward

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