Wellstar East Point clinic set to close Jan. 12

What they're saying: Wellstar said it has been referring its East Point patients and caseloads to the neighboring Southside Medical Center clinic since October 2022. That's been a good thing, they say, because patients can access preventative care instead of going to urgent care only after a problem arises.

• "As a result, the average urgent care volume at Wellstar EPHC has dropped by almost 65%, from nearly 80 patients per day in October 2022 to 28 patients per day in November 2023," it said in a release.
• Wellstar plans to invest $5 million into Southside over five years to help increase the clinic's size, capacity and services.

Yes, but: Southside is not a specialty center or surgery center, so although a patient may learn what their problem is, the clinic might not be able to address it, according to the AJC.

Catch up quick: Wellstar shut down two of its hospitals — Atlanta Medical Center in Old Fourth Ward and Atlanta Medical Center-South in East Point — in 2022.

• The latter was converted into the East Point Health Center urgent care facility.
• The AJC reported last year that it planned to eventually close the clinic, but Wellstar did not publicly confirm that until this week's announcement.

Zoom in: State Sen. Donzella James told Axios on Wednesday that she's working with local and state lawmakers to create hospital authorities in the cities of East Point and South Fulton to build or buy sites that would not be owned by Wellstar.

• "We definitely have to find a way to help people if they get sick tomorrow," James said. "I'm distressed that they want to close what we do have to help people."
• James said they're still in the beginning stages of gathering millions of dollars to put infrastructure in place to give residents health care.

James called a new hospital a "desperate need" for residents. She said "it would take 30 minutes to get to Grady, the closest hospital, and some people don't have but 10 minutes" for emergency medical attention.

• A recent survey of her district constituents showed that hospital access is one of the top three concerns in the community, she said.

The big picture: Critics say Wellstar's closures are exacerbating ongoing health disparities in the southern part of the predominantly Black county.

• Several Atlanta-area lawmakers and the NAACP filed federal complaints this year that allege Wellstar discriminated against Black patients when the nonprofit closed its hospitals last year, according to Capital B Atlanta.

State of play: Grady Memorial Hospital has grown its intensive care capacity by 40% to help meet the increased demand, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle (🔒).

• Grady is Atlanta's only Level I trauma center following the Atlanta Medical Center's closure last November.

Worth noting: Mayor Andre Dickens and Atlanta City Council have enacted a ban on redevelopment at the site of the Atlanta Medical Center in Old Fourth Ward to ensure a new health-related business can be developed there.

• Atlanta's AMC site redevelopment ban has been in place for more than a year. City Councilmember Amir Farokhi, who represents half of the site, says housing, retail and some health care use should be built there, Thomas Wheatley writes.

Zoom out: The situation appears to fit within a national trend of urban hospitals struggling financially to support its poor, uninsured patients, which is what rural hospitals are struggling with, Axios Atlanta previously reported.

What's next: Wellstar said East Point clinic employees will be offered jobs at its other locations, and Southside may also have job opportunities for Wellstar staff.

• Wellstar also said it's "committed to a thoughtful process" to determine the future of the AMC South site.