Grady Memorial Hospital to cut another 120 jobs

Following layoffs and the shutdown of two neighborhood clinics earlier this year, Grady Memorial Hospital is cutting an additional 120 positions as it faces a $17 million budget shortfall in just the first four months of 2011. The cuts represent roughly 2% of Grady's workforce and will include some nurses, spokesman Matt Gove said. They are part of a spate of cost-saving measures, including cutting back on overtime, improving cash collections and reducing patients' length of stay. No services or programs will be reduced, he said. "We're at a point where decisions have to be made to ensure Grady's doors will stay open," said Thomas Dortch, a Grady corporate board member and chairman of the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority board of trustees. The move follows other recent cutbacks as Grady has tried to bridge a $20 million cut in local and federal dollars to care for the poor and uninsured, among other financial hurdles. So far this year, the safety net hospital has upped prescription drug co-pays, closed two health clinics and cut 100 jobs.