In this interview, Anthony Guerra, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of healthsystemCIO, sits down with Jeremy Meller, CIO of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA)​. ​ Jeremy provides insight into his organization’s recent achievement – the construction of the Arthur M. Blank Pediatric Hospital, a state-of-the-art facility that spans two million square feet. He highlights the unique design considerations – like private rooms and ample space for families – and the innovative technologies​ that were integrated to enhance patient care and staff efficiency. From real-time location systems (RTLS) for better staff security and workflow optimization, to the deployment of an unprecedented fleet of 90 robots dedicated to logistical support, CHOA has embraced a forward-thinking approach to meet the increasing complexity of patient needs.<br /> <br /> LISTEN HERE USING THE PLAYER BELOW OR SUBSCRIBE THROUGH YOUR FAVORITE <a href="https://healthsystemcio.com/podcasts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://healthsystemcio.com/podcasts/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585746312517000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGlikywUFfTGub6l88sXJkQLnauDw">PODCASTING SERVICE</a>. <br /> <br /> Anthony: Welcome to healthsystemCIOs interview with Jeremy Meller, CIO at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. I’m Anthony Guerra, Founder and Editor-in-Chief. Jeremy, thanks for joining me.<br /> Jeremy: You bet, Anthony. Thanks so much for the invite.<br /> Anthony: Great. Do you want to start off by telling me a little bit about your organization and your role.<br /> Jeremy: I am with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. I’ve been with Children’s for about 12 years. I’ve been the CIO since 2000. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is one of the busiest freestanding pediatric organizations in the country. We have three hospitals, around 800 beds, about 20 locations, and about 15,000 employees. And we’ve recently just opened the Arthur M. Blank Pediatric Hospital, which is a 19-story, 2-million square foot, $2 billion new facility here in Atlanta, and we’re really excited about it.<br /> Anthony: Wow. Excellent. About how long has that been in the works?<br /> Jeremy: The concept is probably about 10 years old. We had attractive property with about 16 one-story buildings on it, which was our administrative campus. We then spent the next several years purchasing land and businesses all around that to expand that footprint. We then built a two-building administrative center, and a conference center, which we call the support center.  Then we were able to move everybody out of those buildings. We broke ground in early 2000, right when the pandemic started, and started building our new hospital.<br /> Anthony: So early 2020, is it?<br /> Jeremy: Early 2020. About four and a half years of actual construction. We had about 10,000 people involved in the construction, as you might imagine, had to do it. Started right during the beginning of the pandemic so it was challenging, but we opened it about six months early in comparison to the original schedule.<br /> Anthony: Very exciting. I think you said 9/29, I have down here when it opened, September 29th. So very recent. And I believe there’s a number of technologies that you’re utilizing there. If you want to start off wherever you’d like and tell us maybe some of the things that you’re featuring there that you put in place.<br /> Jeremy: One of the first things we did was we said, okay, what are some of the biggest challenges that we’re going to have? And one of the things with modern facility design, and you’ll see this, is just about all new hospitals that open these days have, even in their intensive care units, have private rooms. And private rooms that are a little bit more expansive, more rooms for family and visitors, et cetera. And what that ends up doing is really blowing out the size of your facility. So that’s how we got to a 2-million square foot facility.

healthsystemCIO.com

Anthony Guerra

Planning the IT Elements of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Recently-Opened Hospital Was An Exercise in Placing Bets on the Future While Building in Flexibility, Says CIO Jeremy Meller

OCT 30, 202431 MIN
healthsystemCIO.com

Planning the IT Elements of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Recently-Opened Hospital Was An Exercise in Placing Bets on the Future While Building in Flexibility, Says CIO Jeremy Meller

OCT 30, 202431 MIN

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<p>In this interview, Anthony Guerra, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of healthsystemCIO, sits down with Jeremy Meller, CIO of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA)​. ​ Jeremy provides insight into his organization’s recent achievement – the construction of the Arthur M. Blank Pediatric Hospital, a state-of-the-art facility that spans two million square feet. He highlights the unique design [&#8230;]</p> <p>Source: <a href="https://healthsystemcio.com/2024/10/30/jeremy-meller/">Planning the IT Elements of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Recently-Opened Hospital Was An Exercise in Placing Bets on the Future While Building in Flexibility, Says CIO Jeremy Meller</a> on <a href="https://healthsystemcio.com">healthsystemcio.com - healthsystemCIO.com is the sole online-only publication dedicated to exclusively and comprehensively serving the information needs of healthcare CIOs.</a></p>