BROOKHAVEN, GA. — On Sunday, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) is set to open Arthur M. Blank Hospital, a 2 million-square-foot children’s hospital located in the northeastern Atlanta suburb of Brookhaven. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that development costs for the facility, which is situated at the heart of CHOA’s new North Druid Hills campus, totaled approximately $1.5 billion.
Arthur M. Blank Hospital rises 19 stories on a 70-acre site at the corner of I-85 and North Druid Hills Road. The new facility offers 446 patient beds, a 70,000 square-foot emergency department with 69 emergency exam rooms and a level one pediatric trauma center — the only dedicated one in Georgia, according to CHOA.
The new hospital is named after Arthur Blank, one of the founders of The Home Depot and the current owner of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United professional sports teams. The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation made a $200 million donation to help fund the cost of the new hospital.
The property also offers amenities for patients and their families, such as lounges, libraries, child life activity rooms, a business center and laundry facilities and kitchenettes on every floor. The building cafeteria, dubbed The Eatery, will provide patient families and visitors with breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night dining selections.
With the opening of Arthur M. Blank Hospital, CHOA will move clinical services and patients from the existing Egleston Hospital and outpatient clinics at the Emory Children’s Center to the new facility. CHOA will also consolidate all cancer and blood disorders services from the Egleston and Scottish Rite hospitals to Arthur M. Blank Hospital.
The future of Egleston Hospital has yet to be determined. However, Scottish Rite Hospital will remain open and continue operating within the CHOA system.
“Arthur M. Blank Hospital is a giant leap forward for Georgia’s kids, and it’s an open door for progress and discovery that will help transform pediatric care nationally,” said Donna Hyland, president and CEO of CHOA. “This hospital is a beacon of hope for healthier children, and I am grateful to so many in our community who helped make this vision a reality, especially Arthur Blank.”
In addition to Arthur M. Blank Hospital, CHOA’s new campus will feature two patient towers, conference and simulation space, more than 20 acres of green space with miles of walking trails and a special care unit with an emergency department.
The development team broke ground on the project in early 2020. Funding sources for the campus include a $15 million donation from the Georgia Power Foundation.
Formed in 1998, CHOA is a not-for-profit children’s healthcare system headquartered in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The primary academic partner of the organization is the Emory University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics in Atlanta. In 2022, CHOA served 444,000 children across all 159 counties in Georgia.
— Channing Hamilton