Doctors, nurses, therapists and other clinical staff have been involved from the beginning in designing Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s new Arthur M. Blank Hospital, chief nursing officer Linda Cole said at an Aug. 6 news conference.

They thought of everything, Cole said, from the best placement of exam rooms and medical equipment to details like, “When you enter the patient room, should the door open to the left or to the right?”

The Arthur M. Blank Hospital is truly a hospital designed by doctors for their patients, Cole.

“We put hundreds of staff and nurses into a cardboard hospital,” Cole said. “And while it may have been a fake hospital, we learned a lot of really good lessons.”

As the facility neared completion, more than 1,200 staff and physicians participated in dress rehearsals that ran through multiple scenarios simultaneously — just like an average day at the hospital, Cole said.

They tested their workflow, the new facility and its technology to be ready for September 29th.

A minute-by-minute schedule for this Sunday has been prepared and is ready. At 7 a.m. Egleston closes and Arthur M. Blank Hospital opens.

“We will also be transferring patients from the Scottish Rite Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center,” she said, “because we will be consolidating our inpatient hematology services at Arthur M. Blank.”

The staff expects to care for all 340 patients within 10 hours.

“It will require about 56 ambulances,” Cole said, some of which will come from community partners in Georgia and surrounding states. The children will use their own transport vehicles and, weather permitting, helicopters.

In the 185,500 square meter facility, calming colors, interactive walls and an attractive room layout ensure that parents feel comfortable, if not relaxed.

The children’s hospital has 446 beds, 116 more beds than Egleston.

Private patient rooms with double sofas allow family members to stay and sleep close. For added convenience, kitchenettes, washers and dryers are accessible on each floor.

Every window offers breathtaking views of the Atlanta skyline, and numerous gardens, games and recreation centers invite children into a fun environment.

An interactive station allows children to artificially communicate with an animated animal on a larger-than-life screen.

When it opens next month, Children’s Arthur M. Blank Hospital will be the only Level 1 pediatric trauma center in Georgia with a 24-hour emergency department.

This article appears on Now Habersham in collaboration with GPB News