For nearly 45 years, the Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities has been filling a crucial need for families of children who are being treated for medical issues.
Atlanta RMHC has two facilities in Atlanta offering a place where families can stay while their children are receiving medical care. It also provides transplant suites for children and their families.
But Atlanta RMHC is having a problem keeping up with the growing demand for its services.
On Wednesday, Dec. 6, Atlanta RMHC is breaking ground to build a new facility at the new Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Hospital campus where Arthur M. Blank Hospital is being constructed at North Druid Hills Road and I-85. The hospital will begin serving patients in fall 2024.
The first phase of the new and expanded RMHC facility will replace the Gatewood House, now located at Emory University near the current Children’s hospital. The new facility is expected to open during the summer of 2025, at which time Atlanta RMHC will sell the Gatewood House to Emory.
That day can’t come soon enough.
“The demand for our services has been well beyond what we could have expected,” said Tracey Atwater, president and CEO of Atlanta RMHC. “If Phase 1 were open today, it would already be full.”
The new facility will have 60 rooms plus 10 transplant suites (compared to 40 rooms and 10 transplant suites at the Gatewood House), and it will include about 98,000 square-feet.
The total cost for Phase 1 is $72 million, with construction costing $65 million and another $7 million needed for innovative programming of the facility, an outdoor play area and green space, a building maintenance fund and operating expenses.
Atlanta RMHC already has raised $70 million toward its $72 million goal. The Greater Atlanta McDonald’s Operators Association, which pledged $10 million (the largest commitment from a local co-op in McDonald’s history). Also, the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, part of the Robert W. Woodruff family of foundations, committed $10 million.
Atwater, who spent 13 years working for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (from 1993 to 2006), became CEO of Atlanta RMHC in July following the departure of Beth Howell, who had been with organization for nearly a decade.
“I love getting back to taking care of kids,” said Atwater, an Atlanta native who has spent her entire career in the nonprofit space – mostly in health care and human services. “We are excited to have an opportunity to move close to the new Children’s campus.”
Atlanta RMHC has signed a 50-year ground lease for six acres to build its new facility on Children’s new campus. Architectural services are being provided by Perkins & Will, and SK Project Consulting is handling project management. Brasfield & Gorrie will be handling the construction, which is supposed to “start in earnest in January,” according to Atwater.
“Children’s is committed to providing world-class pediatric care to families throughout Georgia,” said Donna Hyland, CEO of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, in a statement. “The new Ronald McDonald House on our campus will better support families who have to travel to Atlanta to receive specialized pediatric care.”
Architectural services for the new building are being provided by Perkins & Will, and SK Project Consulting is handling project management. Brasfield & Gorrie will be handling the construction, which is supposed to “start in earnest in January,” Atwater said. “It will be so amazing to be in the new facility.”
In addition to Children’s, Atlanta RMHC also serves families with patients at other local hospitals, including the Shepherd Center and Northside Hospital. It also has another 31-room facility on Peachtree Dunwoody Road near Children’s Scottish Rite hospital.
“In 1979, Atlanta opened the world’s fourth Ronald McDonald House dedicated to providing a haven for families required to travel for their children’s specialized medical care,” said Katie Fitzgerald, president and CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities Global, in a statement. “This new house is a critically important element of the larger effort to holistically address the needs of families when their children are sick or injured. I am so grateful for the generosity of all the donors who are making our vision become a reality.”
Because demand in the Atlanta region is so great for family residential support, Atlanta RMHC already is looking ahead and planning for a second phase at the new location. The second phase would add another 42 rooms.
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