Henrietta Egleston Hospital for Children

In 1928, Henrietta Egleston Hospital for Children opened in the Old Fourth Ward east of downtown Atlanta at 640 Forrest Road (now Ralph McGill Blvd.). It opened with the financial support of Thomas R. Egleston Jr. In the first year the 52-bed facility was open, 605 children were treated.

History

The hospital contained the original Dolly Blalock Black Memorial Garden,^[1] dedicated to Elizabeth "Dolly" Blalock, wife of Eugene R. Black, Sr., president of the World Bank.

In the 1950s Egleston became the pediatric teaching hospital affiliate for the Emory University School of Medicine, and in 1959 relocated to the university's campus.

In 1959 the Atlanta Housing Authority purchased the Forrest Road site and planned a 350-unit complex there, which Black groups had argued for to relieve overcrowding in the Sweet Auburn area to the west. White homeowners complained that this would mean Black encroachment eastwards, and so City Council aldermen refused rezone the site, offering instead to clean up the Buttermilk Bottom slum.^[2]

In 1987 the hospital opens a medical-psychiatric unit. Today the unit is one of only six university affiliated units es pecially for children in the United States.

The hospital is now a part of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

Timeline history

• 1928 - Henrietta Egleston Hospital for Children opened
• 1933 – M. Hines Robert, M.D., Egelston's first Medical Director, helped establish the American Board of Pediatrics to advance the science, study and practice of pediatrics.
• 1956 – Egleston became the pediatric teaching affiliate of the Emory University School of Medicine
• 1956 - Egleston relocated to the Emory University's campus
• 1959 – Egleston moved to its current site
• 1980 – Egleston's first kidney transplant was performed
• 1982 – Egleston established Georgia's first kidney dialysis program for children
• 1984 – Egleston's first bone and marrow transplant took place
• 1987 – Egleston opened a medical-psychiatric unit
• 1988 – Georgia's first heart transplant was performed at Egleston
• 1989 – The U.S. government named Egleston the home base of the nation's first pediatric disaster medical assistance team
• 1990 – Egleston began a widespread public awareness campaign with SAFE KIDS of Georgia to combat preventable injuries
• 1992 – The Emory-Egleston Center for Child Advocacy was established
• 1992 – Egleston specialist performed the hospital's first cochlear implant
• 1993 – Egleston surgeons performed the hospital's first heart-lung transplant
• 1993 - Child magazine recognized Egleston as one of the top ten children's hospitals in the nation
• 1995 – Egleston Cystic Fibrosis Center for adolescents and young adults opened
• 1998 – Egleston Children's Health Care System and Scottish Rite Children's Medical Center officially merged to become Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
• 2010 - Ryan Seacrest Foundation opens THE VOICE its first broadcastmedia center

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Programs and Facilities

The voice

In 2010, the Ryan Seacrest Foundation opened THE VOICE, its first broadcast media center, at Children’s in Ryan’s hometown of Atlanta. Now kids can learn about the exciting world of radio and TV broadcasting during their hospital stay.

The state-of-the-art studio is located in the lobby of the Children's at Egleston Hospital. THE VOICE Broadcasts at the Elgilston studio, repeat on the closed-circuit TV system within the more than 500 patient rooms at Children’s which include those at Elgilston, the patient rooms of Children's at Scottish Rite and the patient rooms of Children's at Hughes Spalding.

Since its 2010 opening THE VOICE, which has been featured by media outlets including CNN, People magazine and E! News. The format is simple: a quick, fun interview by Wendy Threatt (a 24-year radio veteran), a few songs (if you want to perform), followed by a photo and autograph session with participating patients. Visits last approximately an hour.^[4]

References