HR1797: HR1797 Grady Memorial Hospital; rename to Grady-Bell Memorial Hospital; urge

Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta is named for Henry Grady, who the resolution's text describes as an outspoken white supremacist. This resolution asks the hospital's governing authorities to rename it Grady-Bell Memorial Hospital, adding recognition for Dr. Roy Charles Bell Sr., one of Atlanta's first Black dentists and a civil rights leader. The resolution recounts that Dr. Bell led the legal fight in Bell v. Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority, a 1962 U.S. Supreme Court case that forced the desegregation of public hospitals receiving federal funds, including Grady. As a resolution rather than a bill, it does not change any Georgia law or actually rename the hospital itself; it formally urges the hospital's governing authority to take the steps needed to do so, and directs the Clerk of the House to distribute copies to the public and press.

• Formally urges the appropriate governing authorities to rename Grady Memorial Hospital to Grady-Bell Memorial Hospital.
• States the House's position but does not itself carry legal force to change the hospital's name; it is a request, not a mandate.
• Recites the historical basis for the request, including Dr. Roy Charles Bell Sr.'s role in desegregating the hospital through a 1962 Supreme Court case.
• Directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to make copies of the resolution available to the public and the press.

Grady Memorial Hospital and its governing authority, the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority, are directly named in the resolution's request. The public, patients, and residents of Atlanta and the surrounding area who use or refer to the hospital by name would also be affected if a renaming occurs.

If the hospital's governing authority acts on this request, one of Georgia's most prominent public hospitals would carry a new name recognizing a civil rights figure instead of, or alongside, a historical figure tied to white supremacist views, changing how the institution is publicly identified.

• The whereas clauses describe Henry Grady's documented history of promoting racial hierarchy and opposing Black political and social equality.
• The whereas clauses detail Dr. Roy Charles Bell Sr.'s role as lead plaintiff attorney in Bell v. Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority, a 1962 U.S. Supreme Court case desegregating public hospitals receiving federal funds.
• The first resolving clause urges governing authorities to take all necessary steps to rename Grady Memorial Hospital to Grady-Bell Memorial Hospital.
• The second resolving clause directs the Clerk of the House to make copies available to the public and press.

1. 2026-03-23House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-20House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-19House Hopper (House)

• Eric Bell (D, HD-075)Primary sponsor
• Park Cannon (D, HD-058)
• Carl Gilliard (D, HD-162)
• Al Williams (D, HD-168)
• Edna Jackson (D, HD-165)
• Carolyn Hugley (D, HD-141)

• hospital renaming
• Grady Memorial Hospital
• civil rights history
• Atlanta healthcare
• public hospital governance