Emory Board Authorizes Enhancements to Clifton, Midtown Campuses

With a special focus on fighting cancer, heart disease, pediatric ailments and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, Emory University trustees have authorized the next stage of program definition and design work for redevelopment and innovation of Emory Healthcare, the state’s largest and most comprehensive health care system.

The board agreed to spend $73 million for programming and schematic design for the clinic, hospital and research facilities on Emory’s Clifton Road and Midtown (Crawford Long) campuses. In addition, money was approved for utility relocations, preliminary infrastructure modifications and site preparation for the Clifton Road clinic facility.

"We are pleased to move ahead with state-of-the-art programs in patient care and research that will address the most acute health needs of our population in this new century," says James W. Wagner, president of Emory University.

"We look forward to working with our surrounding communities and government leaders to give DeKalb County and metro Atlanta a destination health care system that will be an unsurpassed source of civic pride and competitiveness, high-quality patient care and job growth well into the 21st century."

Perennially ranked among America’s Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, Emory has eight specialties rated among the nation’s top 50, the most in Georgia.

Emory previously announced plans, in 2006, to construct a new Emory Clinic complex, along with a replacement for Emory University Hospital (EUH), to be located and built in phases across Clifton Road from the hospital’s current site. The 2006 plans also called for construction on the replacement hospital not to begin until 2014 at the earliest.

The new proposal – which will now move into a design phase contingent on final program definition and the availability of funding – envisions the first phase of hospital redevelopment to be completed in 2013. The new proposal also contemplates investment at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Midtown, which was not in the 2006 plan.

Key components for the Clifton Road site:

• A 250-bed hospital (100 beds will replace beds currently in EUH, for a net gain of 150 beds on Clifton Road)
• A new 395,000 square foot Emory Clinic to be built next to the current Emory Clinic
• A new emergency department in the new hospital to replace the current facility in EUH
• A new 100,000 square foot research facility located on Haygood Drive across from Emory Children’s Center

Key components for Emory Crawford Long Hospital site in Midtown:
• Approximately 125 new beds
• A new 137,000 square foot Emory Clinic building
• Approximately 75,000 square feet of new research space

"These new facilities will be designed to support top-tier patient care, research and medical training in a new and more nimble way that sets the standard for academic medicine and teaching hospitals everywhere," says Fred Sanfilippo, MD, PhD, Emory’s executive vice president for health affairs. "Emory's growth in programs and facilities will enable us to create the ideal patient and family experience, now and for the future, as we pursue our vision of transforming health and healing in the 21st century."

"As we continue to develop the ideal integrated model for health care delivery, the dedication to quality is at the heart of all of our facilities planning," says John T. Fox, CEO of Emory Healthcare. "Dedication to quality will drive everything we do now and in the coming years."

In concert with the Clifton Community Partnership, Emory has pledged to continue its dedication to sustainable buildings, a pedestrian friendly environment, a landscaped public realm, the aesthetic transformation of Clifton and North Decatur roads, and alternative transportation and improved traffic flow.

The new plans are founded on several years of planning, culminating in eight months of concentrated study involving more than 100 Emory faculty and administrators, along with professional consultants and community input. Emory’s new approach is predicated on building smaller-scale projects that can be executed more nimbly and economically in response to many variables including patient demand, the success of fundraising, national business cycles, and the healthcare policy and financing environment.

Research – particularly research that can translate discoveries from the laboratory directly into patient care – is a central component of the vision of Emory's Woodruff Health Sciences Center. Emory University received nearly $384 million in external research funding last year. Over the past decade, Emory's research funding has increased nearly two-and-a-half fold.

Emory's new plan will support and enhance its partnerships with the Georgia Institute of Technology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, the Grady Health System, and the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, as well as with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Georgia Research Alliance and the Georgia Cancer Coalition.