Pamela Stephenson, CEO of the Atlanta-based Grady Memorial Hospital, is defending her two-year, $1.2 million contract. She says the contract is fair and valid, not a sweetheart deal done in secret as some officials have characterized it. Stephenson addressed her critics at a news conference, where about 30 of her supporters cheered her and stood to speak in her favor. Stephenson said she is in talks about the contract with the hospital's new board, which expects to replace her as CEO within weeks. The state of those negotiations is in dispute, but Stephenson said the talks were going "very well."