Atlanta Judge Rules Dialysis Unit Can Be Closed
By KEVIN SACK
Published: September 25, 2009

ATLANTA — Uninsured dialysis patients who could be cut off from their life-sustaining care lost a court challenge on Friday when a judge ruled that Grady Memorial Hospital could close its outpatient dialysis clinic. But the hospital gave the patients a temporary reprieve.


Ruling largely on technical grounds, a state court judge dissolved the restraining order that prevented last weekend’s scheduled closing of the clinic at Grady, the Atlanta region’s safety net hospital. The hospital, which is deeply in debt, quickly announced it would close the clinic within a week. It agreed, however, to pay for up to three months of dialysis at private clinics for the 51 patients who will be dislocated.

Grady will continue to assist the indigent patients, many of them illegal immigrants, in seeking care in their home countries or in other states where they may qualify for emergency Medicaid coverage.

Lawyers and advocates for the Grady dialysis patients had asked in negotiating sessions that the hospital provide a longer transition period. Grady’s senior vice president, Matt Gove, said he could not speculate about whether the hospital would extend its financial assistance beyond three months to patients unable to make arrangements.

“The hospital, along with the patient, each bears some responsibility in doing everything we can to find a long-term solution,â€