Welcome to a "sho nuff" county hospital. . . . . .sho-nuff and 'bout it 'bout it

So here's the deal. . . .my sister, JoLai, set up one of these blogspot deals a few weeks ago, and I am admittedly biting off her. (Oh. . bite: v. to copy or follow someone's idea.) So yeah, I'm biting. . . . wait, not completely. I admit that I have toyed around with the thought of some kind of blog or online journal- especially about my experiences surrounding Grady Hospital. So it's a quasi-bite at best off of JoLai, but I can definitely say I was 100% nudged to do this by her doing it first.

So this blog is about my life at and associated with Grady Memorial Hospital. Grady Memorial Hospital (a.k.a. "The Gradys") is a fire-breathing dragon of a county hospital located in the heart of downtown Atlanta, Georgia. When I finished my residency and chief year in combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics back in 2001, I knew one thing for sure. I knew in my heart that I wanted to go work in the trenches at one of the "sho-nuff" county hospitals. Okay, so what makes a "sho-nuff" county hospital? It's pretty simple. Two things: poverty and pathology. And not just "my lights got turned off this month" poverty. . . . but the searing poverty that exposes you to the extremes of disease and the social aftermath that both precedes and follows it. I always thought working in hospitals like this would feel more like a ministry than a job. And now I can personally attest to this. Bellevue in New York, Charity Hospital (RIP) in New Orleans, Jackson Memorial in Miami, Cook County in Chi-town, and of course, Grady Memorial in the ATL. All "sho nuff" county hospitals lying on a fault line of poverty and pathology.

Yeah, so quick background is that I am a faculty member at the Emory School of Medicine, and have been since 2001. Emory is responsible for the majority of the clinical teaching and care at Grady, and a part of this responsibility is shared with the Morehouse School of Medicine. (Shout out to the historically black med schools, including my alma mater Meharry and Howard Med!) I teach medical students, residents, and care for patients at Grady on both the outpatient (clinic) and inpatient (folks admitted in the hospital) settings. It's hard work. It's often draining. It can be extremely funny and extremely sad just moments apart. . . . . . and as exhausting as it can be, I couldn't see myself doing anything else.



Grady's where the fun is. . . . at least most of the time. . . .hope you enjoy the ride. . . . .speaking of which- I'd better hit the sack 'cause I have to round at the crickety crack of dawn tomorrow!

P.S. Oh and for the record. . . .I will not be violating patient confidentiality nor will I be looking to paint Grady in a bad light. I love me some Grady- don't get it twisted for a second! So. . . understandably, there can only be so much detail. . . but trust me- every day there is a Seinfeld episode just waiting to happen. Now, good night for real!