The waiting area at Atlanta Medical Center’s emergency room was desolate at 6 a.m. Friday. The “Level 1 Trauma Center” sign had been peeled from the hospital’s walkway the day before. Now, security guards walked down the driveway to post a new set of signs: “Emergency Department Closed — Authorized Personnel Only.” On a normal […]
Health
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Could Medicaid Expansion Have Saved AMC From Closing?
In a letter sent Tuesday to Georgia’s Democratic congressional delegation, Gov. Brian Kemp said that Medicaid expansion would not have stopped Wellstar’s decision to close Atlanta Medical Center. Kemp maintains Medicaid expansion instead may have been detrimental to AMC’s longevity. “It would hurt both patients and providers because, as you know, healthcare providers actually lose […]
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Black Residents Worry Grady’s Not Ready to Handle Fallout from AMC Closure
Kevin Marshall remembers being rushed by ambulance to Atlanta Medical Center after a horrendous car accident in August. The accident, which left his car totaled, was in North Druid Hills, and Marshall needed stitches on his legs. He thought it would have made the most sense to go to nearby DeKalb Medical Center, but the […]
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Another Hospital Closure Means Another Maternity Ward Closes, Too
When Aleah Walker had her baby in late January 2014, she wanted to give birth at Atlanta Medical Center. Walker, a Powder Springs resident at the time, wanted a water birth and was willing to drive over 20 miles to Atlanta Medical Center because it’s one of the few hospitals in the metro area where […]
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State Gives Out 4,000 Monkeypox Vaccines at Black Pride, Expands Eligibility
The Georgia Department of Public Health says it was able to distribute more than 4,000 monkeypox vaccine doses to people during Atlanta Black Pride weekend. Nearly half of those — 48% — went to Black people. The state’s public health department participated in President Joe Biden’s initiative to get extra monkeypox vaccines to certain states […]
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Second Wellstar Closure Creates Health Care Void for More Black Atlantans
In a strongly worded letter on Friday, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens called for “immediate answers” from Wellstar Health System officials to address the “crisis” caused by the planned shutdown of a Level 1 trauma center in the city — Wellstar’s second such closure this year. Dickens said city leaders are scrambling to gather resources for […]
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Monkeypox Worries Loom as Atlanta Black Pride Starts
Quinten Fleming just moved to Atlanta from Raleigh, North Carolina, two weeks ago. Fleming, a business analyst for a pharmaceutical company, is looking forward to going to his first Atlanta Black Pride Weekend as a resident. He also has some concerns. With the looming threat of monkeypox, he’s getting flashbacks to the coronavirus pandemic. He […]
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What Black Pride Organizers Are Doing to Address Monkeypox
Before the pandemic, Amber Moore remembers over 40,000 people coming to town every Labor Day weekend for Atlanta Black Pride. Moore, the chief operating officer of Atlanta Black Pride Inc., and other event organizers are now facing a new challenge: the state’s monkeypox outbreak. Nearly 80% of cases in the state are Black men who […]
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Monkeypox Vaccine Distribution Is Inequitable, but Experts See Efforts Working
For health advocates in Georgia, the monkeypox outbreak has reignited discussion on racial inequity. Whereas Black people make up nearly 80% of cases in the state, they represent less than half of the vaccine doses. The state has distributed more than 17,000 vaccine doses, which have gone to people who are sexually active and have […]
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How Stigma Affects Public Health Response to Monkeypox
Rig Rush is frustrated. The global marketing director with Impulse Group — an organization providing HIV/AIDS education for gay men — says it has been hard to watch state and federal health departments respond to the worldwide monkeypox outbreak. Like COVID-19, the vaccine and testing rollout in Georgia has been slow. And there’s concern that […]
