At the shuttered Atlanta Medical Center, a "Stronger Together" mural sends a hopeful message near a summer spray of hydrangeas. The campus was mostly quiet on a recent weekend, since AMC closed almost two years ago. A lone security vehicle sat behind a chain-link fence, and pedestrians passed by without even a glance.
In the town of Cuthbert, some 160 miles away, the Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center also remains shut after closing four years ago, another Southern hospital casualty in a region dotted with them. Even a smaller facility replacing the former Cuthbert hospital "would be tremendous for the county," said Steve Whatley, chair of the Randolph County Hospital Authority. The two hospitals — one inner-city, the other rural — faced some of the same financial pressures, including not having enough patients with private insurance.
This year, they also shared the attention of some of Georgia's most powerful lawmakers. Legislation signed in April by Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, included a provision pushed by U.
S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat.
The law amends the state's "certificate of need" system, which allows existing hospitals and other health facilities to block would-be competitors' plans to expand by arguing there's insufficient need for their services. Certificate of need laws exist in 35 states and Washington D.C.
, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The hospital industry, especially nonprofit facilities, generally support the rul.