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Tue Nov 27 15:12:07 GMT 2007

Yes, by all means.  Let's continue to fund those who won't go out and work for a living, who are too lazy to flip burgers at McD's, who would rather peddle drugs than legal wares, who use violence to solve problems, who have children but no way to pay for them...let me pay more taxes so that others can live the high life and never lift a finger.

And, let's take funding away from the soldiers in Iraq so they don't have the means to defend themselves.  Let's forget 9/11, it was probably a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.  

Pret, how would you pull out of Iraq?  Have you contacted your Congressman or the President with a grand plan?  How do you pull out thousands of soldiers without leaving a few behind to be massacered?And, the answer isn't "we should never have gone there".  Because, we are there and without a plan to get out, we'll be there a long time.

Hey!  Maybe the physicians at Grady could work for less money!  Yeah!  Cut their earnings so that others may continue to suck off the government tit!

Get real, Pret.  You're not part of the solution.

> Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 09:24:21 -0500> From: pbjorn at emh.org> To: trauma-list at trauma.org> Subject: RE: Grady> > Sad that all this red ink comes to a small fraction of one per cent of> Georgia's share of federal healthcare reimbursement slashed by the> current administration.> > Fifty million dollar budget shortfall? End the Iraq war six hours early> and let Grady keep the change.> > Pret Bjorn> Bangor, ME USA> > > > > -----Original Message-----> From: trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org> [mailto:trauma-list-bounces at trauma.org] On Behalf Of Robert F. Smith> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 7:52 AM> To: rockmd at aol.com; 'faran bokhari'> Cc: 'Trauma &amp; Critical Care mailing list'> Subject: Grady> > > > Atlanta Hospital Moves to Unburden Itself of Debt > > > By KEVIN SACK> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/kevin_sack> /ind> ex.html?inline=nyt-per> and SHAILA DEWAN> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/shaila_dew> an/i> ndex.html?inline=nyt-per> > > ATLANTA, Nov. 26 - The politically appointed board of Atlanta's troubled> charity hospital effectively voted itself out of business Monday, the> first> step in at least a short-term escape from the insolvency that had> threatened> the region's only top-level trauma center.> > Without the financial bailout made possible by the vote, the hospital,> Grady> Memorial, was at risk of not meeting its payroll, perhaps by the end of> the> year, hospital officials had warned. Though Grady, like most public> hospitals> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthto> pics> /hospitals/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> , has faced intermittent> financial crises in the past, this one has generated real anxiety> <http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/stress-and-anxiety/ove> rvie> w.html?inline=nyt-classifier> because of its roots in a collision of> national forces, including the unchecked growth of uncompensated care> and> deep cuts in government reimbursements. > > Political leaders and medical officials have worried that Grady, woven> into> Atlanta's social fabric since 1892, might follow Martin Luther King> Jr.-Harbor Hospital in Los Angeles County as a casualty in 2007. If so,> the> consequence would be a "patient tsunami" at other area hospitals, the> Metropolitan Atlanta Chamber of Commerce said in a report earlier this> year.> > Grady - which supplies the region with its only 24-hour trauma center as> well as poison control and burn units and large clinics for AIDS> <http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/aids/overview.html?inli> ne=n> yt-classifier> and sickle> <http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/sickle-cell-anemia/over> view> .html?inline=nyt-classifier> cell anemia - has operated in the red for> 10> of the last 11 years. It is expected to run a deficit of $50 million to> $55> million in this year's $730 million budget. > > The hospital owes an accumulated $63 million to its biggest creditors,> the> medical school at Emory University> <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/e/emo> ry_u> niversity/index.html?inline=nyt-org> and the Morehouse School of> Medicine,> which provide its doctors and have threatened to train residents> elsewhere.> Republican state legislators had threatened a state takeover if local> officials did not reconstitute the hospital's governance structure.> > Following a raucous meeting marked by chants and protest, the 10-member> Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority voted unanimously to hand daily control> of> Grady and its affiliated clinics and services to a nonprofit corporation> to> be formed for that purpose.> > A Chamber of Commerce task force had advised earlier this year that a> governance change was needed to remove the hospital from the control of> the> elected commissioners of Fulton and DeKalb Counties and to restore the> confidence of lenders, foundations and Georgia's Republican leaders. > > Advocates for patients have warned that the hospital would become less> responsive to community needs if it was operated by a less political> board.> But with few other options and Grady's fiscal condition worsening, the> authority felt it had little choice.> > "In three weeks, our cash position would have been zero," the> authority's> vice chairman, Dr. Chris Edwards, said at the meeting Monday.> > In its resolution, the hospital authority, which would continue to own> Grady's buildings and land, made explicit that its willingness to hand> over> control depended on substantial financial commitments from both the> public> and private sectors.> > Before the lease, to be executed by Dec. 31, becomes effective, the> hospital> must receive written commitments for a capital infusion of $200 million> from> businesses and philanthropies.> > In addition, the resolution demands that state leaders provide written> support for $30 million in new state aid.> > A. D. Correll, a former chairman of the Georgia-Pacific Corporation and> the> co-chairman of the task force, said he considered the vote a critical> first> step, though with provisos attached. "They were a surprise, a lot of> them,"> Mr. Correll said of the conditions, "and they require action on a whole> lot> of people's parts." > > Mr. Correll said a single anonymous donor had agreed to give the> hospital> $200 million if the donor approved of the governance system changes. He> said> he was confident that the private sector could raise an additional $100> million in two or three years.> > The fate of the hospital has become a keenly watched civic drama,> overlaid> with issues of race and class. > > Some black activists and elected officials had warned that the> governance> change would shift control of the hospital from black political leaders> to> white business leaders. The hospital's problems, they said, are> financial> and not political.> > Chamber of Commerce officials, white and black, have responded that the> only> color that matters in the campaign to save Grady is green. And> justifiably> or not, they say, business leaders and state officials were willing to> participate in a rescue only if they saw a real departure from past> practice, when the hospital's board was perceived to lack technical> expertise and the will to block corruption and cronyism.> > > > --> trauma-list : TRAUMA.ORG> To change your settings or unsubscribe visit:> http://www.trauma.org/index.php?/community/> > > --> trauma-list : TRAUMA.ORG> To change your settings or unsubscribe visit:> http://www.trauma.org/index.php?/community/
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