Emory cuts Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital debt $20 million

Emory University has eliminated $20 million of the debt owed by Grady Memorial Hospital in a gesture to help the struggling Atlanta hospital survive. Grady officials met this week with the leaders of several metro Atlanta hospitals to request that they contribute a total of $30 million to help the safety-net facility over the next four to five years. Grady hospital continues to provide the bulk of trauma and indigent care to the region, two services that cost the hospital millions more than it recoups. Grady officials say they believe the other hospitals should help shoulder that burden, because, without Grady, these hospitals would be flooded with indigent clients and have to provide their own trauma care. "This is a community issue," Grady Chief Executive Michael Young said.