Grady Health expands clinics after closure of Atlanta Medical

Grady Health System will open two outpatient clinics to serve patients near the now-shuttered Atlanta Medical Center, the Atlanta-based nonprofit provider announced Thursday.

Wellstar Health System of Marietta, Georgia, closed the 460-bed safety-net hospital in October, triggering concerns about access to care for patients in south Atlanta. Grady Health referenced the Atlanta Medical Center and Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center South closures in a news release announcing the planning clinics. When the new sites open, Grady Health will operate eight outpatient centers and a 953-bed safety-net facility in Atlanta.

Grady Health said it is executing a long-term growth strategy while simultaneously filling gaps in primary and specialty care. The closures had a ripple effect in Atlanta and led to higher volumes and quality concerns at nearby hospitals. At Grady Memorial Hospital, trauma and delivery volumes skyrocketed, for example.

Wellstar Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Grady Health's expansion is partially financed through Medicaid, known as Georgia Medical Assistance in the Peach State. As a safety-net provider, the federal and state government underwrites projects to improve community health, said Grady's Chief Strategy Officer Shannon Sale.

The new clinics will target communities near the old Wellstar facilities that the health system identified as underserved, Sale said. One will be in a growing section of Atlanta's West End and the other in Cascade Heights, across from Kaiser Permanente Cascade Medical Center, which has a high concentration of older residents. That area is not considered medically underserved but suffers shortages in primary care and mental health providers, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.