Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is closing the doors of the Egleston Hospital Emergency Department at 7a.m. on Sunday while simultaneously opening the doors of the brand new Arthur M. Blank Hospital.
All patients from Egleston Hospital will be moved to the Arthur M. Blank Hospital in one day, a logistical feat that Children’s has been preparing for for nearly eight years.
56 ambulances from community groups as well as Children’s ground and air transport will move 340 patients to the new hospital. Throughout the day, law enforcement will accompany each patient, ensuring safe travel during the move.
“What’s the best possible outcome for our patients? Some of them are very sick and we want to make sure that based on acuity, based on diagnosis, they’re all getting the best possible treatment plan, not just when they leave Egleston, but on the way to Arthur M. Blank,” said Olivia Whitlock, Development Officer at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center.
Child life specialists, hospital chaplains and interpretive services, along with an approximate 1,000 support staff volunteers, will be on-site at the hospitals to assist with patient family needs on Move Day.
Children’s is asking for the public’s help by yielding to ambulances along the move route which includes Uppergate Drive to Starvine to Clairmont Rd to 1-85 Frontage Road.
Approximately 30 patients from the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Scottish Rite Hospital will also move to Arthur M. Blank Hospital. They will travel from Meridian Mark to Johnson Ferry Road to Peachtree Dunwoody Road to GA-400 to I-85N to Arthur M. Blank Hospital.
The new Arthur M. Blank Hospital is a 19-story, 2-million-square-foot facility with 446 beds, 116 more than the current number at Egleston Hospital.
The Arthur M. Blank Emergency Department will be the only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center in Georgia and will operate 24/7.
The hospital is expected to bring up to 4,500 additional workers to the North Druid Hills campus. Many will transfer from Egleston Hospital, but around 1,000 will fill newly-created positions.