Huge hospital merger still unfinished after state’s OK

Six months after getting state approval, the mega-merger between Northside Hospital and Gwinnett Health System remains unfinished business. The potential deal was originally announced in 2015, with a projected completion date of early the following year. But it has dragged out way beyond that. Even last year, there were still details to be worked out…

New report says Medicaid expansion would cover 473,000 more Georgians

A new report estimates that a full Medicaid expansion in Georgia would provide health insurance to 473,000 more residents in 2019. The Urban Institute policy brief, released Wednesday, is the latest to predict the effect of expansion on the state. Georgia is among 19 states that have not expanded Medicaid as outlined by the Affordable…

Emory goes Down Under to deliver nighttime intensive care here

Hospitals, like many other workplaces, have a tough time filling slots on the night shift. Few doctors and nurses want to work overnight hours, which are often inconvenient and can take a toll in fatigue and burnout. But in a novel way, Emory medical providers are addressing the problem. Through the technology of telehealth, the…

Dangerous dust: Silica exposure haunts former workers in an iconic Georgia industry

Ed Scarborough worked as a sandblaster in the granite industry for 20 years, until his health gave out. He says he knew that getting into such a line of work was risky, but in Elberton, “there really isn’t much else.” He was born and raised in Elberton, a historic northeast Georgia town known as the…

One in 5 Ga. hospitals gets ‘A’ in safety ratings

Fifteen Georgia hospitals scored an “A’’ grade on patient safety in the latest Leapfrog Group report. The ratings, released Tuesday, showed that 21 percent of hospitals evaluated in the state got a top grade. That’s a slightly higher percentage for Georgia hospitals than in the Leapfrog rankings issued last fall, but it trails the national average…

Facing heat from governor, Blue Cross and Piedmont settle dispute

The pressure from Gov. Nathan Deal evidently worked. Deal announced Tuesday afternoon that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia and Piedmont Healthcare had reached a “handshake” agreement on a new contract. The accord thus met his deadline of close of business Tuesday, after which the state would have been forced, in his words, “to initiate executive action.”…

Home medical equipment firms say Blue Cross squeezing them

Piedmont Healthcare isn’t the only entity battling Georgia’s biggest health insurer over reimbursement rates. Companies that supply medical equipment to home care patients say they have seen double-digit percentage rate reductions from the insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia. MRS Homecare, based in Albany, says it faces a 17 percent to 33 percent…

Overwhelmed in the ER: A mental health crisis

This article is written by Elly Yu, a WABE reporter, and is published with permission of WABE.  A lot of us have probably been to the hospital emergency room: For a broken bone, an asthma attack, the flu. Chances are, it wasn’t the best experience. Long wait times in crowded lobbies. Doctors hustling back and…

Plan for Georgia rural hospital’s future has as many twists as a mountain road

The proposed purchase of a hospital in rural North Georgia is anything but simple, even though the system that wants to buy the facility is headquartered only about 20 miles away. An unusual complication has tangled the deal. The proposed deal for Chestatee Regional Hospital, in the historic mountain town of Dahlonega, is linked to…

Hard choices in the ‘Granite Capital’: Can the local hospital be saved?

For Kathy Jossey, the idea that Elbert Memorial Hospital could one day close its doors is troubling both professionally and personally. Born and raised in Elberton — billed as “the Granite Capital of the World” — she has a long history with Elbert County’s only hospital. Jossey retired in May 2016 after serving as a…