Report: Georgia lags in disciplining doctors

Georgia ranks near the bottom nationally for imposing serious disciplinary actions on its licensed physicians, leaving patients vulnerable to incompetent, impaired or abusive physicians, a new report has found.

Only New Hampshire and the District of Columbia had lower rates of serious discipline imposed by medical licensing boards than Georgia did between 2017 and 2019, according to a study released Wednesday by Public Citizen, a national consumer advocacy organization. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained an advance copy of the report.

“The people in Georgia are being endangered by doctors who in other states would either have lost their license or had severe restrictions on it,” Dr. Sidney Wolfe, founder and senior adviser of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, said in an interview.

The New York company behind Rockefeller Center is the lead partner in an agreement to buy the Mall West End in southwest Atlanta and develop it into a 1.3 million square foot mixed-use complex, according to people familiar with the matter.

Tishman Speyer went under contract March 26 to purchase the property from HT Group, the pandemic wore on, buyers flowed into the market while inventory — the number of homes listed for sale — fell.

“We are critically low in inventory,” said John Ryan, chief marketing officer for Georgia Multiple Listing Service. “And I can’t see anytime soon where that is going to change.”

Buyers often find themselves competing for attractive homes, bidding against one another and pushing the prices up. “I know of a case in Gwinnett where there were 60 offers on one property,” Ryan said.

Real estate agents say the pandemic caused some who were thinking of selling to delay those plans because they didn’t want potential buyers — and potential virus carriers — traipsing through their homes. according to people close to the deal. One person said the sales price is eight figures.

The sale is expected to close by the end of the year. Plans call for demolishing the mall and developing retail and office space, and up to 1,000 market-priced apartments and condos, these people said. Demolition and construction would begin no sooner than summer 2022. plant — into one of the largest film production sites in the state.

G ay Te levi s i on is i n t he final stages of purchasing the remaining undeveloped property, roughly 128 acres, to construct at least 10 film studios along with a focus on e-gaming, digital media and robotics, all of which will be dubbed “Studio City.”

It’s the first phase of the company’s plan for the site, which also includes apartments, town homes, a hotel, corporate offices, restaurants and retail space.

Doraville Mayor Joseph Geierman said Gray’s plans would be the largest investment in the north DeKalb County city since the GM plant first came to town in the late 1940s. It closed down at the beginning of the Great Recession.

rJuly 1. The mayor made her remarks during Wednesday’s virtual State of the City Address. The speech was prerecorded March 23; last year’s address was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bottoms’ speech focused heavily on issues certain to be at the heart of this year’s mayoral election, including her administration’s response to crime, affordable housing, homelessness, the pandemic and the social unrest last summer.

The mayor faces a challenge this year from Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore, who has served more than two decades on City Council and has said crime would be her top priority as mayor.

Bottoms said 90 police recruits are currently in the pipeline, and that she is working with the City Council to enact a retention bonus for officers.

The department is about 400 officers under its authorized level.

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