Vol. 73/No. 40      October 19, 2009

Patient Ignacio Godinez Lopez told the Militant that many of the patients couldn’t come to court on the hearing date because some were scheduled for treatment and were afraid of missing their appointment in light of the imminent closing of the clinic.

The hospital’s chief executive tried to close the dialysis clinic in 2007, but protests kept it open and eventually contributed to his dismissal. A new hospital board decided in July to try again, and gave notice to dialysis patients in August that the clinic would close September 19.

This followed the elimination of 150 jobs at the hospital, the closure of its primary care clinic, and instituting higher fees to Grady patients living in counties other than Fulton and DeKalb. The metro area includes a number of other counties. Three months ago, the state of Georgia cut Medicaid payments by 3 percent.

About 90 patients received the kidney-cleansing procedure at Grady, some of whom are undocumented immigrants. Hospital officials say Grady will pay for three months of treatment at Fresenius Medical Care for 51 of the patients affected by the Grady clinic’s closure. But the October 5 Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that some of these patients are already running into “snags” in getting treated at Fresenius clinics.

The hospital has offered to send patients to their countries of origin or to other states to receive treatment. But some of the states listed to receive the patients say that no such government-funded treatment is available for them.

In his ruling allowing the hospital to close the dialysis clinic, Judge Glanville said that the patients have no legal standing and there is little chance of them prevailing. The judge also said he will continue to hear arguments in the case at a hearing anticipated to occur in about a month.

“At least 51 patients had their life support system unplugged today under the authorization of this judge,” said Lindsay Jones, an attorney for the patients. Jones has since filed an amended complaint against the clinic’s closing.

Abebech Tadesse expressed the urgency the patients and their family members feel. “We have no options,” she said, referring to her father, a dialysis patient. “The only option is to count the days until he dies.” Her father, Tadesse Amdago, 69, is from Ethiopia, and has a green card.

In a phone interview, dialysis patient Clorice Hoskins said, “I’m a Canadian and a green card holder. I don’t understand why in ‘the land of the free,’ as the U.S. calls itself, people who are not U.S. citizens don’t have rights, like we’re not human.”  
 
 
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