The New Arthur M. Blank Hospital Ushers in a New Era of Pediatric Care for Atlanta

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In 2022, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation announced a transformative $200 million grant to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (Children’s) to create a new world-class children’s hospital. The Arthur M. Blank Hospital (the Hospital) is now complete and open to the public on September 29, 2024. Located on the CHOA North Druid Hills campus, the new 19-story, 2-million-square-foot facility will improve the quality of care, patient experience and access to specialized pediatric healthcare for Georgia’s children and families.

With an emergency department, state-of-the-art operating rooms, infusion center and advanced diagnostic equipment, the Hospital will be home to many clinical specialties, including cancer and blood disorders, cardiac, critical care, neurosciences, orthopedics, lab, radiology, transplants and much more. Additionally, the Hospital will be a place for groundbreaking new innovations and services. There will be a Special Care Unit for the treatment of patients with highly infectious diseases, three cardiovascular operating rooms and an inpatient dialysis unit.

The exceptional care, attention to detail and thoughtfulness that defines the Hospital will have a profound impact on the community for generations to come. Every aspect of the Hospital, from its design to its services, reflects the Core Values of Chairman Arthur M. Blank himself and embodies the principles that guide both the BFOB and Children’s.

Put People First: The Hospital’s design and services prioritize the comfort and well-being of patients, families and staff.

• Calming colors, such as warm blues and greens, are used throughout the Hospital to create a peaceful environment for patients and families. Nature scenery, from the mountains of Blue Ridge to the beaches of coastal Georgia, is also featured.
• The Family Resource and Business Center provides parents with access to computers, printers and the internet.
• Additional family amenities include 16 sleeping rooms for parents, and each inpatient floor has washers, dryers and a family lounge with a kitchenette.

Listen & Respond: Input from medical professionals and employees at CHOA shaped the Hospital’s design.

• The Hospital Planning and Simulation Teams transformed an empty 100,000-square-foot warehouse into one of the country’s largest, full-scale hospital mock-ups. The teams built the mock-up to test the 3D design plans and determine how the layouts might affect employee workflow, patient care and family experience.
• Clinical staff ran through various patient care scenarios to test out design components and made design adjustments before construction on the Hospital began, saving an estimated $90 million in design changes.  
• Based on feedback from clinical staff, the emergency department has a dedicated ambulance holding room for CHOA’s EMS partners to aid in the patient admission process with the goal of getting crews back on the road faster.

Include Everyone: The Hospital is committed to accessibility and inclusivity.

• The Interfaith Chapel is a space inside the Hospital that staff, patient families and visitors of all faiths and denominations can use as a place of comfort, prayer, meditation and spiritual healing.
• The Hospital has a highly qualified, certified team of interpreters and translators who work with care teams to serve as advocates for patients and their families. In addition to language interpreter services, the Hospital includes phone and sign language interpreters, along with written translation and cultural resource support.
• Patient rooms have in-room cameras that allow interpreters to remotely join care team meetings and speak with patient families.

Innovate Continuously: The new Hospital will feature cutting-edge technology and innovative approaches.

• The Hospital has one of the largest fleets of robos in the country. The larger, autonomous mobile robos operate behind the scenes transporting linens, bulk medication and medical waste. The smaller robos are patient-facing, helping to deliver meals or medications and pick up labs or other items.
• The Hospital implemented Real-Time Location System (RTLS) technology that uses wireless signals to track the location of staff to help with workflow, security and patient experience. RTLS will be integrated into each patient room, so when a clinician enters, his or her name will appear on an interactive patient information board. When a physician or nurse enters the room, the display will change, allowing the care team to pull up relevant information and radiology images to communicate with the patient.

Lead By Example: The Hospital is the new benchmark for pediatric care facilities.

• The Hospital is the only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center in Georgia, which means the emergency department is open 24/7 and committed to providing the highest quality trauma care for all injured patients.   
• The hospital’s expanded lab and simulation space allows for more research to take place and, hopefully, more cures to be found. 
• The Marcus Center for Pediatric Advanced Cellular Therapy Production Facility supports cell and gene therapies for many childhood diseases, including cancer and blood disorders.

Give Back To Others: The Hospital builds engaging community impact and outreach programs that support patients and families.

• An interactive donor wall full of woodland animals found in Georgia’s forests was created to ensure the entire community feels connected to the Hospital. Community members can make a special contribution to adopt a woodland animal—such as a digital butterfly, bunny, squirrel or other woodland animal—which will appear in the digital forest wall inside the Hospital for patients and families to enjoy.

• Thanks to longstanding support from the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, the brand-new Seacrest Studio is a state-of-the-art, multi-media studio that broadcasts throughout all patient rooms via closed-circuit television. The studio also hosts a variety of programming for patients, including art shows, karaoke parties and celebrity visits.
• Local sports teams, including the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, Atlanta Braves, University of Georgia and Georgia Tech, will visit with patients at The Zone, a sports and game-oriented area where patients and their families can participate in activities both inside and outside.

Georgia families have relied on CHOA for specialized pediatric care for more than 100 years. As the community grows, so does the demand for the comprehensive services the Hospital will provide. The Hospital is more than just a building. It’s a giant leap forward in the ongoing effort to deliver innovative care and meet future healthcare challenges.