Blank Commits Big Dollar Amounts to Healthcare
Arthur Blank is a major funder of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s new hospital and the Shepherd Center’s Family Residences.
Arthur Blank celebrated his birthday in grand style by dedicating the new $1.5 billion children’s hospital in Atlanta that was named in his honor. Blank, whose name is spaced out vertically across six stories of the building, contributed $200 million to its construction. According to Margaret Connelly, Managing Director of Founder Initiatives at the Arthur Blank Family Foundation, the naming of the facility speaks to Blank’s commitment to what the hospital represents.
“Arthur was really compelled by, you know, the vision for this new hospital. We haven’t seen a lot of Arthur attachment in terms of his name, until recently. But this was one was a really easy decision for him to make because of the compelling vision behind the plans for this hospital and its impact.”
The 19 story, two million square-foot facility, is set on a 20-acre campus that dominates its location near I-85 and North Druid Hills Road. The 446-bed hospital replaces the 170-bed Egleston Children’s Hospital located on the campus of Emory University. Donna Hyland, Chief Executive Officer of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, which operates the building, credited Blank with providing the key to a community fundraising campaign that made the new building a reality.
“We needed a pediatric healthcare campus that could give every child in Georgia access to the care they deserve. It wasn’t easy, and the asks were big. But this community, led by Arthur Blank and our Board of Trustees, didn’t shy away.”
Two days after the official ribbon cutting, in a complex 12-hour operation the hospital moved the 202 patients from the old facility to the new one. The move required the participation of 15 state and local agencies, including the Georgia State Patrol and four police departments. Helping in the move, which is believed to be one of the largest single-day patient transfers of a children’s hospital, were 65 ambulances and 1,000 support staff volunteers.
In addition to more than doubling the capacity of the old building, the new facility provides larger, private rooms so parents can comfortably stay with their children during their hospitalization. There are family lounges, washers and dryers and kitchenettes on each floor.
The ribbon cutting at the children’s hospital follows a similar event in August at the Shepherd Center on Peachtree Road. There, the Blank Foundation made a $50 million capital grant to fund a new 16-story housing tower that will allow families to stay in donated housing while their loved ones are in rehabilitation care. The 165 units, which will receive their first guests this month, will double the housing that is now available next to the Center.
According to Connolly, this gift will be an important part of the healing process the Shepherd Center delivers for patients of all ages.
“Those being treated are supported by their family and have a network of people there to provide care to them,” Connelly said. “And it’s another example of how relationships are really key to how we do our grant making.”
Just as with the children’s hospital, the Marcus Foundation is also a part of the new buildings here. It has donated $80 million for an Advanced Rehabilitation Center which will open next spring.
Both Blank and Marcus have profited in recent years by the valuation of their Home Depot stock, which could be had for as little as $10 a share 25 years ago. It’s now worth more than $400 a share.
The Blank fortune has also benefited from the success of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium which his company manages. The value of the naming rights alone was said to have been worth over $300 million. Then there’s the remarkable rise in the value of the two professional sports franchises he owns.
The Atlanta United professional soccer team, which was founded on an investment of $75 million in 2017, is now said to be worth over $1 billion. The Atlanta Falcons football team, which Blank bought over 20 years ago for $545 million, is, according to Forbes Magazine, now worth over $4 billion. But Blank has repeatedly pledged to devote almost all his accumulated wealth to philanthropy.
This has all helped to broaden financial support of healthcare in recent years as one of the Blank Foundation’s Founder Initiatives. Moreover, in the past two years there have been multi-million dollar funding programs in mental health and well being, which are among the Foundation’s five core values of its philanthropy. And, according to Fay Twersky, the Foundation’s president, there’s more to to come.
“We care about the well-being of individuals, families and our collective society,” Twersky emphasized, “and we feel that everyone deserves a life where they can flourish and thrive.”
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