A birthday party like no other – cutting the ribbon of the Arthur M. Blank Hospital at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta held a private opening ceremony and ribbon cutting on Sept. 27 of its new $1.5 billion Arthur M. Blank Hospital — held just two days before the hospital will open.

It just so happened the event was on the actual birthday of Arthur M. Blank, who donated $200 million to help build the new hospital.

“No question. This is the most beautiful birthday that I have ever had in my life,” Blank said of his 82^nd birthday. 

In his life, Blank has been the co-founder of the Home Depot, become a major philanthropist as well as the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United and other business interests. The ribbon cutting/birthday party included members Blank’s family, friends and associates as well as key members of the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta team.

Even Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens attended the invitation-only event after being up much of the night to deal with the fall-out of Tropical Storm Helene.

The timing of the event was pushed back three hours to give people more time to recover from the tropical storm, which helped reinforce the importance of having a major children’s hospital in the Atlanta region.

The hospital on the Druid Hills campus will have 446 licensed beds available to serve the children of Georgia who need pediatric specialty care. Children’s is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s leading pediatric healthcare systems. It manages more than one million patient visits each year.

During the program, Blank recounted a visit four years ago when Donna Hyland, president and CEO of Children’s called on him to share the plans for a new children’s hospital. Blank had first gotten to know Hyland when she used to work for the Home Depot.

“Donna, when she explained to me what the vision is, said this is the gift I’d like for you to consider,” Blank recounted and then laughingly said: “She could have asked for more.”

Then Blank quickly added: “It is one of the greatest investments as a grantor that we have every made.”

Hyland remembered the 10-year-long effort to build the hospital

“We are finally on the cusp of seeing an amazing dream come true,” she said. “It wasn’t easy, and the asks were really big. Thank you so much for believing in Children’s.”

When she met one-on-one with Blank in October 2020, she said Blank understood the spirit of Children’s. “Arthur, you told me it’s about a feeling,” Hyland said. “The first thing they feel is love, care and kindness.”

It was a most personal statement for Blank, who remembered when his grand-daughter, Nadia, was treated at Children’s shortly after she was born. Not only did Nadia receive excellent medical attention at Children’s, but Blank said the entire family also received care from everyone at the hospital. 

The event featured three former patients of Children’s who have served as the honorary construction managers of the project — Lex Stolle, 15, who received treatment for high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s; Ariella-Faith Damisa, 11, who underwent a successful liver transplant at Children’s in 2017; and Jojo Alonge, 11, who was treated for a spinal tumor and undergoes physical therapy during robotic rehab appointments at the hospital.

Tommy Holder, board chair of Children’s thanked the more than 192,000 donors to the “Never Settle: A Campaign for Kids.” He added that about 1,300 Georgia companies contributed to the campaign to support the children’s hospital, which “has been a precious resource for more than century.”

Blank said he would love to have a “tiny office” at the new hospital where he could visit whenever he was down — say when the Falcons lose a game — and be able to lift his spirits.

“All of our young people in America represent 30 percent of our population but they also represent 100 percent of our hope,” Blank said. “The fact is we are making a difference in people’s lives.”

The ribbon-cutting marked the final milestone before the official opening on Sunday, Sept. 29. Children’s sent out an advisory to remind people of the major transition that will happen with the closing of the Egleston Hospital Emergency Department and the simultaneous opening of the new hospital — a “Moving Day” that is expected to last 12 hours.

The new Arthur M. Blank Hospital will open at 7 a.m. when Egleston will close. Beginning at 7:30 a.m., all patients at Egleston Hospital will be transported via ambulance to Arthur M. Blank Hospital. Children’s will move all the patients in 65 ambulances along a route from Clifton Road to North Druid Hills Road. Child life specialists, hospital chaplains and interpretive services, along with as many as 1,000 support staff volunteers, will be on-site at the hospitals to assist with patient family needs.