Twenty-one former patients, most uninsured and undocumented immigrants, will continue to receive dialysis treatments after Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta struck a three-year deal with a national dialysis company, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report.
The arrangement will solve, through 2014, who will care for the immigrants after Grady closed down its dialysis unit nearly two years ago. Patients with end-stage renal disease, who can die within weeks without regular dialysis, were cut off from treatment last week when a one-year, $750,000 contract between the hospital and Waltham, Mass.-based Fresenius Medical Care expired.
Under the new deal, the hospital will pay Fresenius $15,500 per patient each year, or approximately $325,000 annually over three years. The per-patient charge allows flexibility for adjustment if a patient becomes insured or makes other arrangements.
Undocumented immigrants are illegible for Medicare, which provides dialysis for most Americans with end-stage renal disease. In the days immediately following the expired contract, most of the patients ended up in Grady’s emergency department for treatment.
Since closing the dialysis unit in 2009, Grady has spent more than $2 million to continue care for the undocumented and uninsured dialysis patients.
Related Articles on Grady Memorial Hospital:
Atlanta’s Grady Health System Names John Haupert Top CEO Candidate
Atlanta’s Grady Memorial to Cut 120 Jobs
Hospital Authority Calls On Grady to Justify Clinic Closures
