Transforming the Way We Care for Georgia’s Kids

Arthur M. Blank Hospital is scheduled to open September 29, 2024.

No. After the opening of Arthur M. Blank Hospital, Children’s will no longer operate Egleston Hospital. The future of Egleston’s campus has yet to be determined. Scottish Rite Hospital and Hughes Spalding Hospital will remain key care facilities within the Children’s System.

Arthur M. Blank Hospital is located on Children’s North Druid Hills campus at the northeastern corner of North Druid Hills and I-85 in Brookhaven.

Arthur M. Blank Hospital is a 19 story, 2 million-square-foot facility. It will have 446 licensed beds, 116 more beds than Egleston has today. Our plans are to expand over time, as necessary, to serve the growing number of children who need us.

All clinical specialties now at Egleston will be relocated to Arthur M. Blank Hospital. This includes the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Heart Center, transplant services, Infusion Center, Emergency Department, outpatient lab and radiology. The Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Scottish Rite will also be moving to Arthur M. Blank Hospital.

Additionally, Arthur M. Blank Hospital will be a home for groundbreaking new innovations and services. There will be a Special Care Unit for the treatment of patients with highly infectious diseases like COVID-19, three cardiovascular operating rooms, and an inpatient dialysis unit. 

Extra consideration was given to patient and family amenities at Arthur M. Blank Hospital. We sought input from key stakeholders—patients, families, staff, leadership and community members—to help us create spaces that are a combination of inviting and innovative, healing and high-tech. The new hospital will offer larger, private rooms so parents and caregivers can comfortably stay with their child. It will have kitchenettes, child life activity rooms, laundry facilities on every floor, dedicated sleeping rooms and a business center. And the specially designed playgrounds, playrooms, libraries and school support spaces will have all of the extra touches that allow kids to feel like kids.

Research has shown that exposure to nature reduces the need for some medications and improves outcomes. The North Druid Hills campus was designed with this in mind. It spans more than 70 acres with more than 20 acres of greenspace that includes miles of walking trails and offers healing views from patient rooms.

Children’s North Druid Hills campus includes Arthur M. Blank Hospital, an adjacent South Tower and the existing Center for Advanced Pediatrics and staff Support Center.

The 16-story South Tower will house the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, transplant clinics, Heart Center, Infusion Center, outpatient lab, family education classrooms and physician offices.

The first building completed on the expanded North Druid Hills campus, the 260,000-square-foot Center for Advanced Pediatrics brings together a variety of outpatient clinics and services all under one roof, including neurology, hepatology, cardiology and endocrinology.

The Support Center is made up of two buildings that provide our support employees a convenient, accommodating place to work, with ample meeting space, a modern Conference Center, as well as open workspaces, a food court and coffee shop.

We studied extensively whether it was possible to expand on the Egleston campus. Given this campus is only 7.5 acres, there is no further opportunity to expand. As we looked at future demand and the facility capacity required to meet the projected 10-year and 20-year needs of Georgia’s children and their families, Children’s determined a new campus at North Druid Hills—along with sustained growth over time at Scottish Rite—provides the System with the footprint it needs to grow.

The North Druid Hills campus and Arthur M. Blank Hospital will help accelerate our research efforts by creating dedicated space for breakthroughs to happen.

Children’s and Emory University School of Medicine have a longstanding partnership and will continue to work together to provide specialized pediatric care, conduct groundbreaking research and train the next generation of physicians. Faculty and physicians from Emory will continue to provide clinical care at all Children’s campuses, and Children’s will remain a primary training site for Emory’s pediatric medical students, residents and fellows.

Parking decks at Arthur M. Blank Hospital will provide families with quick access to the hospital and enhanced navigation to help reduce stress. There are two parking decks, providing more than 4,700 parking spaces. The Visitor (South) Parking Deck serves as the primary parking deck for patient families.

Children’s North Druid Hills campus will be served by MARTA bus routes, and we plan to accommodate ride-sharing services.