This article was updated Dec. 13 at 5:21 p.m. with corrected information on the number of Level 1 trauma centers in the city of Atlanta.
The situation with Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown Atlanta diverting patients to other local hospitals has gotten so serious that the governor has stepped in by declaring a state of emergency.
Dec. 7, a two-foot-wide water pipe burst at Grady, one of the city’s only two Level 1 trauma centers (the other is WellStar Atlanta Medical Center), wreaking havoc on the hospital. According to a news release, the water damage rendered multiple floors of the hospital inoperable, so it diverted all patients to other hospitals, and a partial diversion system is still in place today.
According to news reports, Emory University Hospital Midtown has been flooded with patients since the pipe burst. As a result, Gov. Brian Kemp is holding a news briefing Dec. 13 at the state capitol building to issue an emergency declaration for Grady, Fulton County, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and the Georgia Department of Public Health. Representatives of those organizations will attend the briefing.
“In order to ensure residents and visitors have access to adequate trauma centers, Kemp has declared emergency assistance from the state of Georgia is necessary to provide for the public’s safety,” the release stated.
Also, Kemp has issued an executive order (see a copy above left). According to a WSB-TV report, a mobile hospital unit from North Carolina is being brought in to help.
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