ATLANTA — Egleston Children’s Hospital, a subsidiary of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, has officially submitted a state application for its proposition of a new pediatric hospital in the Atlanta suburb of Brookhaven.

The plan entails replacing the current facility with a 446-bed pediatric hospital, which would offer a 100-bed increase in response to the rapidly growing population in the region.

The proposed 70-acre campus and $1.5 billion project for the North Druid Hills campus would be the highest-costing hospital construction plan in the history of the Georgia certificate-of-need (CON) program, according to experts.

In Georgia, it is required that the Georgia Department of Community Health approve any organization seeking to expand its physical medical services. The state CON process has the possibility of being drawn-out if a hospital project is opposed, with such objections typically coming from potentially competing facilities. In this case, no opposition has appeared at this time and Children’s expects to be delivered a decision from the department before the end of the year.

The planned facility would include two patient bed towers, which will hold the AFLAC Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, neonatal intensive care units, pediatric intensive care units and cardiac intensive care units. The hospital will introduce larger rooms with sleeping areas and big windows with “healing views” to achieve natural light. The project will also make room for 20 acres of the campus to hold greenspace with miles of walking trails as well as paths on and around the site.

In total, the project’s expenses will include the cost of the hospital as well as the jointed clinic and office building and central utility plant. Children’s also said it will invest more than $40 million in traffic and infrastructure improvements. Officials of Children’s expressed that this investment is a reflection of their focus to continue to meet the needs of children in Georgia as well as creating the best possible experience for patients and their families.

Construction for the new hospital will begin in 2020 and is slated for completion in 2025.

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ATLANTA — Emory Healthcare, the clinical arm of Emory University, and Kaiser Permanente publicized a new collaboration on June 13 that will brand two Emory hospitals as primary facilities for Kaiser doctors and patients in Atlanta.

Under the agreement, Kaiser will provide its nationwide model of hospital care to Emory University Hospital Midtown and Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital. The California-based nonprofit insurer, which operates 39 hospitals in other states, said it would be able to implement its hospital “playbook’’ for its members at the two Emory Atlanta facilities.

Dr. Jonathan Lewin, CEO of Emory Healthcare and executive vice president of health affairs of Emory University, expressed that Emory and Kaiser Permanente share similar missions and goals, which allows them to serve their communities and bring together the best of academic scholarship, research and patient care, as well as family-centered care.

Both Kaiser and Emory described their new-found partnership as a double win, with Lewin stating that it is a great business deal for both sides, as the two organizations accentuate their shared values in quality, innovation, education, affordability and service.

Kaiser Permanente and Emory plan to build off each other’s strengths, and will expand and improve their capabilities in population health management, ambulatory and hospital care, research and academics, and the overall health of the communities they serve.

The integration will begin in October, which differs from Kaiser’s current arrangement with Piedmont and Northside in that the insurer operated under the two latter hospitals’ guidelines with its patients there, Kaiser said.

Jim Simpson, president of Kaiser’s Georgia operation, said their combined focus will be to generate a premier, integrated care and coverage model committed to improving health and affordability for their members. This also includes better addressing health disparities, while collaboratively working to increase the number of people and communities who benefit from what their organizations can accomplish side by side.

Although the terms of the deal are confidential, Emory’s hospitals will remain under Emory’s control, and its relationships with other insurers won’t change as a result of the new collaboration.

Kaiser currently has 375,000 patients in Georgia and will maintain relationships with other metro Atlanta and Athens hospitals. The Northside hospital will also continue labor and delivery services for Kaiser members. Kaiser Permanente has already provided a capital contribution toward expansion of the two Emory hospitals to accommodate the new and existing patients.

The Midtown and Saint Joseph’s hospitals have added beds, operating rooms and other assets to anticipate the influx of Kaiser patients, Lewin said.

Emory Healthcare has seven hospitals and is in the process of adding DeKalb Medical Center in Decatur, Ga. Nationally, Kaiser Permanente serves more than 12.2 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Throughout the next several months of fully activating the agreement, Kaiser Permanente will focus on ensuring its patients continue to receive seamless, high-quality, affordable care. Emory Healthcare will maintain its existing relationships with all of its affiliated health plans and continue to serve their members and all existing patients without a change in service or access.

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