“There’s an issue in the city with response times.” “Their priority certainly should be the city before expanding into other services, especially since they are subsidized,” the councilman said. They needed an ambulance to get him there before he bled to death. But the first responders couldn’t transport the victim to the hospital. Firefighters were already there, as well as several officers from the Atlanta Police Department. When he had first learned of the shooting in his neighborhood, Hillis said he had grabbed the jump bang he keeps in his Jeep and raced over to where the teen was shot. You made promises here that you need to uphold." - Thomas M. The delay put the teen at risk and tied up several first responders at the scene, keeping them from addressing emergencies in other parts of the city, Hillis said. The councilmember, who is also an ICU nurse, said he provided CPR while waiting at least 20 minutes for a Grady ambulance to arrive to a call of a teenaged male who had been shot in the groin and leg. He himself has experienced a situation where Grady fell short in response to a life-threatening emergency. The chairman of the city's public safety committee said he plans to start asking Grady for response time information and other service data. “Grady goes all in no matter where it is located and is committed to improving levels of service in every jurisdiction,’’ the statement read.Ītlanta Councilman Dustin Hillis said he would like to see greater proof of that in Atlanta. In south Fulton, it says it has doubled the number of ambulances in service during peak hour and reduced response times, while still working for further improvements. In a prepared statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the hospital administration emphasized that their expansion doesn’t have an impact on its level of services in the Atlanta area. It also makes his service cost-effective for Grady, he said. William Compton, the senior vice president of EMS for Grady who is largely responsible for the expansion strategy, said his ambulance service draws customers because it offers efficencies that competitors don’t provide. Meanwhile, Grady has told counties elsewhere in Georgia that its plentiful fleet of ambulances is dedicated to prompt response of 9-1-1 emergencies, while saving taxpayers millions. The EMS director and other leaders say the promise was unrealistic given the expanse of the area, and that Grady hasn't devoted enough resources to meet EMS demands. In south Fulton, the provider is still struggling to deliver on a promise to provide a nine-minute response to life-threatening calls for several cities. “You made promises here that you need to uphold.” Kamplain, a former Grady executive who helped establish its in-house accreditation program for paramedics and EMTs, enabling the expansion. “Grady needs to stick to Atlanta,” said Thomas M. Others complain the effort does not serve the best interests of Atlanta-area residents. Some of its expansion efforts, tax experts say, also may have Grady blurring the lines on the rules for nonprofit organizations, particularly when it comes to a for-profit business it established to maintain ambulances. First responders, public officials and competitors say it is emphasizing profitable ambulance runs, undercutting other EMS providers because of the advantages it has as a tax-supported nonprofit. Our arms are open wide.” And the profits, Grady says, help support its mission to care for the underserved in Atlanta.īut a growing chorus of critics wonder if Grady’s widening business strategy for EMS has it veering away from its charitable purpose. Its far-flung reach falls right in line with the hospital’s motto: “We are Grady. To Grady executives, the effort is synonymous with its drive to provide quality healthcare to Georgians. Grady has expanded ambulance service to more than 16 counties and scooped up contracts for patient transfers with a half-dozen hospital systems. After picking up the tab for Atlanta's poor for more than a century, Atlanta's iconic public health care provider, Grady Memorial Hospital, has now become a household name in medical transport services throughout the state.
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