Grady Hospital is the only public hospital in the Atlanta metropolitan area. It is funded the Fulton and DeKalb county governments. In 1999, the hospital's trustees raised the patient co-pays for prescription drugs from as low as 50 cents to $10. An internal Grady document projected that without access to discounted medications, 6,500 people would suffer or die within thirty to sixty days.
A coalition of Concerned Black Clergy, the Atlanta Labor Council, the Open Door homeless advocacy group, doctors, the blind, students, and business people – gay, lesbian, and straight formed to block the increase. The group developed a strategy, built support among local residents, and demonstrated at a trustee and county commission meetings. At one demonstration, they engaged in one of the largest acts of civil disobedience in the city since the civil rights movement. The county commissions put up additional funds for the hospital and the drug co-pay increases were rescinded.
This presentation will note lessons from the successful community effort to maintain access to medications at Grady Hospital that could be applied in similar cases.
Learning Objectives: Learn how Atlanta community groups used the political process to maintain access to prescription drugs at Grady Hospital.
Keywords: Public Hospitals, Politics
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.