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Woman credits struggling Atlanta hospital for saving dad's life
Atlanta Medical Center is set to close in November, reducing options for trauma patients in the city. A daughter said her dad was bleeding out when paramedics determined Grady Hospital was full and rushed him to AMC.
ATLANTA - Family members of the sole survivor of a triple shooting in Midtown say their loved one would be dead if it weren't for Atlanta Medical Center.
On Aug. 22, Midtown went into lockdown when police say Raissa Kengne opened fire at an apartment complex and office building. Authorities arrested Kengne at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, about two hours after the shooting was reported.
Two people, 41-year-old Wesley Freeman of Atlanta, and 60-year-old Michael Shinners of Alpharetta, were killed in the shooting. The third victim, 69-year-old Mike Horne, nearly lost his life.
After the shooting, medics rushed Horne to Atlanta Medical Center, which is set to close Nov. 1, leaving the city with only a single level one trauma center. Wellstar Health officials tell FOX 5 the decision to close AMC is a financial one and say the hospital lost more than $100 million last year.
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Horne's daughter Alison Page says this closure will end up costing lives.
"He had a lot of internal bleeding and so getting him to a level 1 trauma hospital as fast as they possibly could, it was dire to him living or dying," said Page.
Page says her father was on his way to Grady hospital, but it was full, so he was redirected to AMC.
"He wouldn't be here without this hospital and if this hospital had closed prior to Aug. 22, he would have died," said Page. "He would have never made it to Macon. Even if they life-flighted him there, he would have never made it."
Mike Horne (Courtesy: Alison Page)
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Weeks later, Horne is still in the ICU at AMC, and Page says not only did the teams there save her dad, but they have played a huge part in his recovery.
"They've become a family that you never want to be a part of but are so grateful that they're there when you are going through something like this," she said.
Page says metro Atlanta needs AMC because when tragedy hits, your loved one deserves every chance possible to make it home.
"He's had multiple surgeries; people have really been fighting for him in the hospital and there's not enough thanks or words to even say to those people," she said.
Members of the Atlanta faith community are uniting outside AMC Thursday at 1 p.m. to voice their concerns about the decision.