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.
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 on 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 will come from community partners in Georgia and surrounding states. Children’s will use their own transport vehicles and, weather permitting, helicopters.
Inside the 2-million-square-foot facility, calming colors, interactive walls, and an engaging layout could make a parent less uneasy if not relaxed.
The pediatric hospital has 446 beds, which is 116 more beds than at Egleston.
Private patient rooms with double sofas allow family members to stay and sleep nearby. Kitchenettes, washers, and dryers are accessible on every floor for added comfort.
Outside every window, an amazing view of the Atlanta skyline appears, 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.
When it opens next month, Children’s Arthur M. Blank Hospital will be the only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center in Georgia with a 24/7 emergency department.
This article comes to Now Habersham in partnership with GPB News
