The hospital opening added approximately 4,500 employees to Children’s North Druid Hills Campus and transitioned around 1,000 employees from the system’s Egleton Hospital in Atlanta, which closed as part of the transition.
Becker’s connected with Linda Matzigkeit, chief administrative officer of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, to discuss the extensive planning and strategic efforts behind the successful transition, the impact of the $1.5 billion hospital investment, and the long-term vision for the hospital.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: What plans are in place to ensure a smooth training process and successful integration of employees into the new hospital?
Linda Matzigkeit: The historic opening of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital required extensive planning and detailed collaboration between clinical and nonclinical teams to successfully transition from one hospital to another.
Staff preparation for Arthur M. Blank Hospital began in 2019 when we developed Cardboard City. Children’s converted an empty 100,000-square-foot facility into a full-scale cardboard mockup of nearly 20 different departments that allowed more than 1,000 clinical and non-clinical employees to assess design components, focusing on safety for patients and staff and workflow efficiencies before construction of the new facility began, giving staff and providers the opportunity to have input into the design of the new hospital.
Employees and providers working in critical areas and those serving in the AMBassador role – team members committed to keeping staff informed and training their peers — later had the opportunity to tour more detailed simulated environments at our mission center to validate the design of key clinical areas, including trauma rooms and surgical environments.
Throughout the summer prior to our opening day, all employees and providers moving into and providing care at Arthur M. Blank Hospital completed robust training that was necessary for the acclimation of all staff and providers to their new space, the building and new operations and workflows. All employees who were transferring to the new hospital had multiple touch points in the new space before opening day.
Q: What does the $1.5 billion hospital investment mean for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta? How will this affect the system’s operating budget in the short and long term?
LM: The needs of Georgia’s children continue to grow at a rapid pace. The only way Children’s can meet this need and grow our mission is by having a strong financial position. Our strong financial position allows us to make direct investments in the community for families and kids, including the $1.5 billion hospital investment for Arthur M. Blank Hospital and the North Druid Hills campus. Because of our long-term perspective and financial strength, we have the ability to invest in research, teaching, child advocacy, new technology and the many other services that kids need, as well as cover the cost of unreimbursed care.
Q: How does the new hospital’s design, including increased bed capacity and private rooms, contribute to operational efficiencies? What is the anticipated return on investment?
LM: We spent the last decade working to create a hospital made just for Georgia’s kids. Our North Druid Hills campus — of which Arthur M. Blank Hospital is the centerpiece — is designed to be a place of healing and comfort, a place for clinicians to deliver leading-edge care and bring lifesaving medical research to patients, all to achieve the best outcomes possible for the children we care for.
The 19-story, 2 million-square-foot, state-of-the-art hospital was intentionally designed for future expansion. With 446 licensed beds, we can meet the growing healthcare needs of children across the state of Georgia. This was made abundantly clear in our first two months alone when we regularly saw days with more than 400 inpatients.
We designed the entire hospital with patients and families in mind, focusing on the healing power of light and nature and dedication to patient and family experience. All patient floors and rooms share an identical design and size, allowing for maximum flexibility of space. While nature themes and calmer colors exist throughout the hospital, our larger, private rooms include double-sized sleeper sofas for parents to comfortably stay with their children and feature floor-to-ceiling windows that offer beautiful views and an abundance of natural light. In addition to our inpatient units, our common areas include washers and dryers, family lounges and kitchenettes on every floor.
To carry out our mission to make kids a better day and healthier tomorrow, Arthur M. Blank Hospital aims to be a hospital of the future. Part of building the new facility included leveraging technology to enhance employee experience so they can feel empowered in delivering the best care. We implemented real-time location system technology to support asset management and staff safety. Additionally, we have a fleet of 90 autonomous mobile robots and robos to help transport equipment, medication and waste through the hospital and to help clinical teams spend less time moving around and more time at the bedside.
Q: What are the long-term strategic plans for the hospital, particularly regarding potential partnerships or new service offerings?
LM: Children’s is the only dedicated freestanding pediatric healthcare system in the state. Our state is growing, and so is the demand for pediatric specialty care. We planned for, designed and opened Arthur M. Blank Hospital with the goal to provide every child in Georgia access to the care they deserve, not just today, but for generations to come.
Through ongoing collaboration with leading research institutions across Georgia, we will continue to advance research breakthroughs, bringing innovative treatments from the lab to the bedside. Our transformative new campus will help accelerate our efforts by creating dedicated space for breakthroughs to happen.
Thanks to a grant from the late Bernie Marcus and The Marcus Foundation, The Marcus Center for Cellular Therapy in Arthur M. Blank Hospital will open later this year. The Marcus Center for Cellular Therapy will offer a full range of cellular therapy treatments for a broad spectrum of diseases — not just cancer. The treatments we will be able to offer to our patients, addressing the full child, head-to-toe, will help put Children’s on the map as a national leader in new therapies.
Additionally, Arthur M. Blank Hospital is home to the nationally recognized Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, a leading cancer center in outcomes and clinical trials and the largest provider of sickle cell treatment for children in the U.S., and the Children’s Heart Center, one of the largest centers in the country providing lifesaving heart surgery and care for children across our state.
