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Sept. 29 is moving day for Egleston patients heading to Children's Arthur M. Blank Hospital
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LISTEN: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta will transfer 340 patients via 56 ambulances as Egleston Hospital closes and their new Arthur M. Blank Hospital opens next month. GPB’s Ellen Eldridge has more.
Physicians, nurses, therapists and other clinicians helped design the new Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital from its inception, Chief Nursing Officer Linda Cole said at a press conference Aug. 6.
They thought of everything, Cole said, from the best place for exam rooms and medical equipment to details such as, "When you walk in the patient's room, should the door swing to the left or should it swing to the right?"
The Arthur M. Blank Hospital is truly a hospital designed by clinicians for their patients, Cole.
"We brought in hundreds of front-line staff and providers to a hospital made with cardboard,"Cole said. "And although it may have been a fake hospital, we learned a lot of really good lessons."
As construction neared completion, more than 1,200 staff and providers participated in dress rehearsals, where they ran multiple simultaneous scenarios — just like what happens in an average day in the hospital, Cole said.
They tested their workflow, the new facility and its technology to be ready for Sept. 29.
A minute-by-minute rundown for that Sunday is prepped and ready to go. At 7 a.m., Egleston closes and Arthur M. Blank Hospital opens.
"We'll also transfer patients from the Scottish Rite Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center," she said, "because we're going to consolidate our inpatient hematology services at Arthur M. Blank."
Staff expect to have all 340 patients settled within 10 hours.
"It will take about 56 ambulances." Cole said, some of which come from community partners in Georgia and surrounding states. Children's will use its own transport vehicles and, weather permitting, its helicopter.
Inside the 2-million-square-foot facility, calming colors, interactive walls, and an engaging layout could make a parent less uneasy if not relax.
A momentary glance of 3D shapes decorating the lobby, lit by sunshine streaming through 19 stories of glass.
The pediatric hospital has 446 beds, which is 116 more beds than at Egleston.
Private patient rooms with a double sofa allow family members to stay and sleep nearby. Kitchenettes, washers and dryers are accessible on every floor for added comfort.
An amazing view of the Atlanta skyline appears outside every window, and multiple gardens, games, and getaway play centers invite children to a joyful environment.
An interactive station allows kids to communicate artificially with an animated animal on a larger-than-life screen.
Children's Arthur M. Blank Hospital when open next month will be the only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center in Georgia with a 24/7 emergency department.
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