Catching up with… John Haupert
President and CEO of Grady Health System
John Haupert joined Grady Health System in 2011 and led transformational changes for the hospital. In 2023, he was named to the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s list of Most Admired CEOs. These are edited highlights from an interview.
Photo credit: Contributed
Grady is Georgia’s largest hospital. How does its presence contribute to Atlanta’s economy?
The [total] impact of Grady is $6 billion. Grady is a Level 1 trauma system and coordinates emergency management for the [Metro Atlanta] district. All this work allows Atlanta to be looked at for Super Bowls, FIFA and big events. For example, we cover the EMS services at State Farm [Arena] and have been involved since day one in the planning for the upcoming [2026 FIFA World Cup] soccer matches.
Add to all this our retained mission to serve the underserved, uninsured and underinsured. When you look at the people who access services at Grady, be it our hospital or our neighborhood health centers, [more than] 30% of those people have zero form of insurance. Some government-funded clinics require a copay even though they’re designed for the poor and underserved. What happens if you can’t afford the copay? We have a charity care policy and are providing more unfunded care than anyone in the market. There are just so many things that couldn’t happen in Atlanta without a Grady.
Grady almost closed in 2007. What changes occurred from its being privatized then?
One of the changes that came out of converting Grady from a government mindset to being overseen by credible leaders at the board level is it put Grady in a position to access philanthropic funding. Since 2008, we’ve raised $660 million in private funding for our growth. We built a new ER, additional ORs, stroke, trauma and burn centers, plus the expansion of our nursing home in south Fulton County. Without private dollars, we couldn’t have done much of this.
What are your thoughts on the state of healthcare in Georgia?
The entire health and hospital industry is focused on how Congress is going to meet their budget saving goals without decimating the Medicaid programs across the country. Medicaid is a state specific program, meaning when there is an edict on a specific Medicaid issue, there could be 50 different impacts. For Georgia, several years ago we landed with what I consider to be one of the most unique and effective additions to Medicaid [when Gov. Brian Kemp allocated $130 million in federal aid to Grady after Atlanta Medical Center closed]. There’s a benefit to safety net hospitals, like Grady, to teaching hospitals and rural hospitals. I would say in Georgia, other than hospitals closing and overall capacity issues, things haven’t been too bad.
How has the closure of Atlanta Medical Center affected Grady?
That hospital probably had an average daily census of 200 patients. I think that inpatient volume has been distributed where Grady saw the most impact, because we’re the only Level 1 trauma [center]. But luckily, we have the facility, capacity and the trauma teams to accommodate this volume. One positive thing that came about is Gov. Kemp awarded us $130 million to finish additional beds and a tower. We’ve created 168 additional inpatient beds. And today, they’re all full.
The ED volume actually remains fairly stable because when [Atlanta Medical Center] first closed we coordinated with other hospitals so Grady could be available for trauma. We went on medical diversion for a significant amount of time so medical patients went to other hospitals, like southern Piedmont hospitals, Emory Midtown and Piedmont Atlanta. We used that lever to control patient numbers because we never want to go on trauma diversion.
What else is happening at Grady?
After a lot of analysis with our strategic team, we determined we need to begin to create a healthcare presence in a healthcare desert area. We purchased 40 acres in Union City, and are starting with a freestanding ED. It will be run by ED physicians and also pediatric ED physicians. We anticipate that we will fairly quickly add a medical office building onsite.
