Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Geography
Location	Atlanta area, Georgia, United States
Organization
Funding	Non-profit hospital
Type	Specialist
Affiliated university	Emory University School of Medicine Morehouse School of Medicine Georgia Institute of Technology Mercer University School of Medicine
Services
Speciality	Pediatric hospital
History
Opened	1998; 26 years ago (1998)
Links
Website	www.choa.org
Lists	Hospitals in Georgia

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (Children's)^[1] is a not-for-profit children's healthcare system located in the Atlanta area, dedicated to caring for infants, children, teens, and young adults age 0–21 throughout Georgia.^[2] Children's formed in 1998 when Egleston Children's Health Care System and Scottish Rite Medical Center came together, becoming one of the largest pediatric systems in the United States. In 2006, Children's assumed responsibility for the management of services at Hughes Spalding Children's Hospital, growing the system to three hospitals.^[3][4]

Today the growing pediatric healthcare system consists of the following:

• Three hospitals: Egleston Children's Hospital, Scottish Rite Children's Hospital and Hughes Spalding Children's Hospital. Children's Arthur M. Blank Hospital will replace Egleston after opening in September 2024.
• 673 licensed beds (to increase after opening of Arthur M. Blank Hospital)
• Eight Urgent Care Centers and facilities that offer primary care, rehabilitation, sports medicine and surgical services
• Marcus Autism Center
• Center for Advanced Pediatrics
• 60+ specialties with access to 2,300 physicians
• More than 12,900 employees

In 2022, Children's managed:^[5]

• 1,158.600+ patient visits
• 444,000+ unique patients from all 159 counties in Georgia
• 43,800+ surgical procedures (inpatient and outpatient)
• 15 kidney transplants, 19 liver transplants and 11 heart transplants

Research and innovation accomplishments include:

• As of 2023, research partner, the Emory University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, is ranked No. 1 nationally in NIH funding for pediatric departments.^[6] The Children’s research program has maintained a top five ranking for NIH funding since 2016.
• Children’s enrolled 2,089 patients in clinical studies and offered 344 active trials to patients through the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center in 2023.

History[edit]

Children’s is one of the only pediatric institutions in the nation that has existed for more than a century.^[7] Its origins date back to the founding of Scottish Rite Convalescent Home for Crippled Children in 1915,^[8] which consisted of two rented cottages with 20 patient beds. The Henrietta Egleston Hospital for Children opened in 1928, with 52 beds.

During the 1990s the United States healthcare industry changed dramatically. Hospitals throughout the country faced colliding pressures, such as reimbursement issues, insurance coverage changes and staff shortages. Egleston Children's Health Care System, which included the Henrietta Egleston Hospital for Children and Scottish Rite Medical Center were among the hospitals that had struggled to continue providing care for sick and injured children and their families. Both hospitals were faced with the possibility of closure; Atlanta leaders urged Egleston and Scottish Rite to unite to preserve pediatric healthcare for the region.^[9]

In 1998, the two hospitals merged to form Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. The new organization improved its standing immediately by eliminating redundancies and reducing costs. Children's went on to achieve even greater financial improvements, reaching $38 million in savings in just 24 months—when the original goal had been $30 million over a five-year period. In addition to exceeding the organization's original financial targets, Children's achieved new benchmarks for customer service and employee satisfaction.^[9]

In 2006, Children’s assumed responsibility for the management of Hughes Spalding Children's Hospital.^[10] The transaction was facilitated by a $20 million donation from philanthropist Diana Blank.^[11] That same year, Children's launched a comprehensive, five-year campaign to raise funds for the largest proposed healthcare facility expansion and renovation project in the State of Georgia's history. Called the One to Grow On Campaign, the campaign raised a total of $294 million which surpassed the original goal of $265 million. The campaigns success was in part due to the generous support of the Atlanta area community.^[9]

In 2008, Children’s launched the Strong4Life Clinic to help families struggling with health issues related to weight. The Strong4Life Clinic provides a specialized pediatric-trained team members, including a board-certified obesity medicine pediatrician, a dedicated pediatric psychologist as well as a staff of registered dietitians, exercise physiologists and other wellness experts. Offering both medical and surgical treatment options, the family-centered, motivational approach begins with complete medical assessments of obesity-related illnesses, nutrition, physical activity and mental health support needs.^[12] In 2022, Strong4Life reached more than 813,000 children through advocacy efforts.

In January 2010, Children’s announced a $75 million investment in pediatric research centers of excellence over a five-year period, with a focus on the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children’s.^[13]

In November 2020, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson collaborated with Microsoft and billionaire Bill Gates to donate Xbox Series X consoles to Children's along with 19 other children's hospitals throughout the country.^[14][15][16]

Children's Arthur M. Blank Hospital[edit]

Children's Healthcare Of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital (ABH) is a planned freestanding, 446-bed, pediatric acute care children's hospital currently under construction at I-85 and North Druid Hills Road in Brookhaven, Georgia. It will be affiliated with the Emory University School of Medicine and will be the flagship hospital of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. The hospital will provide comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21 throughout Atlanta and will feature an level I pediatric trauma center. Its regional pediatric intensive-care unit and neonatal intensive care units will serve the Atlanta and greater Georgia region. The hospital will also have a helipad to transport critically ill patients to and from the hospital. This undertaking is the largest healthcare project in Georgia's history.^[17]

Center for Advanced Pediatrics[edit]

One of the first buildings to open on the campus, the Center for Advanced Pediatrics is an outpatient clinic that was built as a part of phase 1 of the construction plan.^[18] The 260,000 ft building opened July 24, 2018.^[19][20] The facility offers more than 20 different pediatric specialties and clinics.^[21][22] The Center for Advanced Pediatrics is not a hospital and does not provide emergency, urgent care or other walk-in services.

Marcus Autism Center[edit]

As one of the largest autism centers in the U.S., Marcus Autism Center offers families access to the latest research, comprehensive testing and science-based treatments. What started as an act of compassion for local children^[23] with autism by Bernie Marcus, is today one of the country’s largest clinical centers for pediatric autism. After realizing the difference the center was making for kids with autism, Children’s saw potential to combine efforts to provide top-quality healthcare to all children. In 2008, Marcus Autism Center became a part of Children’s.Through collaboration with Children’s and Emory University, the transformative work^[24] at Marcus is known throughout the nation and world.

Awards[edit]

Since 2005, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Children's among the nation’s top pediatric hospitals. For 2023-2024, Children's has four specialties ranked in the top 10 and eight specialties ranked in the top 20.^[25][26]

Emory University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, the primary academic partner of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, is the largest recipient of federal research dollars from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2022 for pediatrics departments, according to rankings from the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. The 2022 figures show the pediatrics department ranking No. 1, for the second time in three years. The program has maintained a top five ranking since 2016, up from No. 49 in 2004.^[27]

The Children’s and Emory relationship facilitates leading-edge pediatric research, training and innovation so that Children’s can deliver the best outcomes possible for patients and families. Rankings are based on NIH funding received between Oct. 1, 2021 and Sept. 30, 2022. In addition to $77 million in NIH grant funding that led to the second No. 1 ranking, more than 2,200 publications in more than 1,000 journals in the same time period helped support groundbreaking efforts to develop new treatments or cures in 50 specialty areas.^[28]

Community Events[edit]

The Children's Christmas Parade was a major community event to benefit Children's. Beginning in 1981 with Egleston Children's Hospital (which later merged with Scottish Rite Children's Hospital), it was held on the first Saturday in December, which is also the second weekend after Thanksgiving.

Cape Day is an annual tradition, which began in 2013. Held each October, the event encourages the community to honor and celebrate the strong and resilient patients facing illnesses and injuries at Children's. On the designated day, Children’s encourages patients, employees, schools, organizations and communities across the state to wear a cape, as well as share videos and photos, tagged with #CapeDayATL.^[29][30]

Children's offers numerous specialized camps/retreats^[31] that bring together children and teens with similar medical conditions, diseases and disabilities. Some of the camps/retreats include the whole family. The goal of each camp is to give children/teens the opportunity to have fun, meet others with similar conditions and build confidence. Many of the camps Children's offers could not be made possible without the collaboration with partner organizations and sponsors. The majority of Children's camps/retreats are held at Camp Twin Lakes, which operates several camp locations throughout the State of Georgia.^[32]

• Camp Braveheart – An overnight camp for children and teens that have had a heart transplant or are affected by heart disease
• Camp Carpe Diem – An overnight camp for children with medically controlled epilepsy and other seizure disorders
• Camp Courage – An overnight camp for children with craniofacial disorders
• Camp Crescent Moon – A sleepaway camp for kids with sickle cell disease
• Camp Krazy Legs – An overnight summer camp for children and teens with spina bifida
• Camp No Limb-itations – An overnight camp for children and teens with amputations or limb deficiencies
• Camp Independence – A week-long summer camp for children and teens who have been diagnosed with kidney disease, are on dialysis or have received an organ transplant
• Camp Strong4Life – An overnight healthy habits camp for kids ages 8 to 12 with a BMI greater than the 85^th percentile
• Camp Thal Pal – A weekend getaway for families of children with thalassemia
• Camp You B You – A sleepaway camp for kids with autism who are verbally fluent and can complete self-care skills independently (there’s also a weekend getaway camp for families of children with autism)
• Camp Wishbone – A weekend getaway for families of children with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI)
• Second Chance Family Camp – A fall weekend getaway for transplant recipients, candidates and their families
• Teen Retreat – A weekend camp for teenagers with transplants, kidney disease or congenital or acquired heart defects
• Camp on the Move provides intentional, therapeutic camp-themed activities to patients and siblings in hospitals and clinics across the Children's system.
• Teen Leadership Academy is an interactive and informative program that combines monthly virtual workshops and in-person events to promote leadership, independence and self-care while building community for teens and young adults.

See also[edit]

• List of children's hospitals in the United States
• Arthur M. Blank Hospital
• Emory University School of Medicine
• Hughes Spalding Children's Hospital
• Egleston Hospital

References[edit]