Feb 03, 2010

Illegal aliens fight hospital's move that could end care

03:39 PMYahoo! BuzzShare
About 40 dialysis patients with Grady Memorial Hospital, most of them illegal immigrants, are fighting the Atlanta facility's announcement that it cannot provide for their long-term care, The Atlanta Journal- Constitution reported.

The hospital informed the patients that it would continue their treatment, which they receive free, only if they could show by Feb. 12 that they were working to find long-term care elsewhere, the paper said. Other patients who were affected were able to find care somewhere else. The situation emerged after Grady's dialysis clinic closed in October.

"There's more power in numbers and Grady sees that," Dorothy Leone-Glasser, a health-care advocate working for free for the patients, told the newspaper.

The group also has a lawyer who is working for free.

Matt Gove, a spokesman for the hospital, told the Journal-Constitution that Grady is struggling financially and has offered to help the patients find care in their home countries.

The extended care "is not an open-ended commitment on Grady's part," Gove said.
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