This article is the product of a collaboration between Georgia Health News and the UGA Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, a partnership made possible by the Ford Foundation and Grady College. More articles on health care in rural Georgia will follow this one in Georgia Health News. The nursing home had closed and…
After some maneuverings at the eleventh hour of its 2016 session, the General Assembly passed a bill that would allow an individual or corporation to get a state tax credit for donating money to a rural health care organization. The proposal had appeared to be blocked recently when a Senate health committee rejected the idea. But…
A Senate health committee Monday unexpectedly rejected a bill that would allow an individual or corporation to get a state tax credit for donating money to a rural health care organization. The sponsor, Rep. Geoff Duncan, a Cumming Republican, told the Senate Health and Human Services Committee before its vote that rural health care in…
The Georgia House passed a bill Thursday that would allow an individual or corporation to get a state tax credit for donating money to a rural health care organization. The sponsor, Rep. Geoff Duncan, a Cumming Republican, said Georgia is “in the midst of a crisis in rural health care.” HB 919, he added, “allows…
State Rep. Geoff Duncan represents a wealthy suburban area north of Atlanta. That makes the Cumming Republican, at first glance, an unlikely person to sponsor a proposal to help struggling rural hospitals in Georgia. House Bill 919, as proposed by Duncan, is unusual. It would allow individuals and corporations to get a state tax credit…
A rural hospital announces that it’s closing its doors after steep financial losses. Employees will be laid off. Patients will have to travel farther to get hospital care. Democrats blame the fact that the Republican governor and state lawmakers have refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Republicans blame changes resulting from the…
In a growing state where health-related news is happening every day, it was hard to whittle down the list. Give us your thoughts. 1. Jimmy Carter diagnosed with cancer The former U.S. president, the only Georgian ever to hold the office, announced in August that he had melanoma. But after treatment at Emory, the 91-year-old Carter,…
Mayo Clinic’s startling decision to pull out of its “integration agreement’’ with Satilla Health Services has left the South Georgia hospital with an uncertain future. Officials with Mayo’s Florida operation said Friday that they ended the deal with Satilla in Waycross to focus on expanding specialty care for people with complex medical needs. Mayo said…
Nov. 19 is National Rural Health Day, an opportunity to celebrate the “can do” spirit of our rural communities. On this day, we honor the unselfish, community-minded determination of our rural healthcare providers. This day is also an opportunity to focus on these communities and the unique challenges they face – finding ways to take…
Prime Healthcare, fresh off its deal to save a struggling metro Atlanta hospital, has now targeted another Georgia hospital under bankruptcy protection. California-based Prime told GHN on Wednesday that it has made a bid to acquire Hutcheson Medical Center, a northwest Georgia facility that’s about to close. Hutcheson, in the small community of Fort Oglethorpe,…