The merger of Augusta University Health with the Atlanta-based Wellstar Health System has drawn praise from Gov. Brian Kemp, University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue, and leaders of both Augusta University and Wellstar.
Others, including state lawmakers and consumer advocates, are more skeptical, particularly given that Wellstar, a nonprofit health system, shuttered two facilities in Atlanta last year which they said were consistently losing revenue. The facilities, Atlanta Medical Center and Atlanta Medical Center South, served largely Black populations, The Augusta Chronicle reports.
A recent complaint from state legislators, local officials and the Atlanta NAACP to the IRS and the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services alleged that Wellstar violated the terms of its tax-exempt status. Read more.
