When I made the decision to propose legislation regarding the Grady Health System, I fully understood the risk that I would be attacked because of my race.  I just never expected that attack to come from Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The AJC said they would publish my response, and I submitted this column earlier today:

Cynthia Tucker wrote an editorial yesterday criticizing my proposed legislation to reform the Grady Health System.

Tucker has no objection to the bill on its merits.  She actually agrees with me that Grady should be run by a nonpolitical, nonprofit board. 
Her objection to my interest in Grady is the fact I am white, male, conservative and Republican.

And, no, I am not paraphrasing.

According to Tucker, my race and gender serve to “increase the racial paranoia of black elected officials who fear losing control of Grady Memorial Hospital.”   Keep up my meddling, she warns, and “Grady may be forced to close.”  According to Cynthia Tucker, the best thing I can do to help Grady is “keep (my) mouth shut.”

It should go without saying that Grady is not on the verge of closing because of anyone’s press releases.

And it should be obvious that saving Grady will require work across racial and party lines.

That is why I sent a draft of my proposed Public Hospital Accountability Act to every member of the State Senate, both black and white, Democrat and Republican.   I even put a copy of the bill on the Internet (http://www.reforminggrady.org/).

Except for Tucker’s column, the reaction has been largely positive.

It would put Grady under the control of a nonprofit corporation whose directors would be insulated from politics and free from debilitating conflicts-of-interest.

Tucker attacks my legislation as “insincere,” citing my opposition to an immediate state bailout of Grady.

True, I think it would be a mistake to simply write Grady a check.  That would be like administering morphine to a cancer patient and not the medicines that would actually cure the disease. 

But I support state funding of the trauma network — a move that would directly benefit Grady and its level one trauma center.

I am also looking into legislation that would allow local governments to use existing 911 fees to support public hospitals that offer trauma services.

But subsides are not Grady’s salvation.  My constituents in North Fulton have been subsidizing Grady for years, and that has gotten us nowhere.

To survive, Grady must be fundamentally reformed, with a modern operating structure that allows it to offer the broadest range of services and attract a self-sustaining mix of patients.

Grady needs a leadership team that will put Grady’s interests first, above those of its vendors, creditors and competitors.

It needs a new relationship with Emory University that utilizes the vast talents of Emory’s physicians but recognizes that Emory’s Crawford Long Hospital is its biggest competitor.

Cynthia Tucker and I agree that Grady is important and must be saved.  But she is wrong to think it can be saved by excluding people from the debate because of their gender, race or political views.

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