Grady CEO faces deficit, patient loss

Michael Young, the new CEO of Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, was optimistic as he pledged that the financially stressed hospital will break even within three years. But later in the same day, he learned during a Grady board meeting that the hospital's deficit is likely to hit $51 million this year and that patients are increasingly going elsewhere. Grady financial chief Michael Ayres said the hospital is treating 8.6% fewer inpatients than a year ago. Grady served 12,098 inpatients in the first five months of 2007, versus 11,055 for the same period in 2008.