The AJC Highlights the Statewide Impact of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

    Children's Healthcare of Atlanta generated $6.12 billion in economic impact across Georgia in 2024, according to a new study from the Center for Economic Development Research at Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute. This is a 65% increase from the last time the system's footprint was measured a decade ago.

    The study used the nationally recognized IMPLAN model to track the direct, indirect and induced economic activity generated by Children's operations, payroll and capital investments, including the recently completed $2 billion North Druid Hills campus, home to the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital. Researchers found that for every dollar Children's spends or earns, another $1.18 in economic activity moves through Georgia's economy via suppliers, contractors and the households of its employees.

    The numbers put Georgia's pediatric health system in rare company. Children's, right here in Atlanta, is one of the top-ranked pediatric healthcare systems in the nation. It's the only children's hospital in Georgia ranked nationally by U.S. News & World Report, with eight specialties in the top 20 and one in the top 10. For many specialties, Children's is the only provider in the state, and the study estimates 55% of Children's patients would have had to leave Georgia for care without access to the Pediatric healthcare system.

    Children's supports more than 30,000 jobs across Georgia, including more than 12,000 full-time positions within its own system, making it one of Metro Atlanta's largest employers. But those jobs, and that impact, aren't confined to one building. Some people think of Children's as just the large hospital off North Druid Hills Road. It's much more than a hospital -- it's a statewide network of specialty centers, urgent care locations and neighborhood clinics serving children in every part of Georgia, alongside a $200 million sustainable fund established to support pediatric rural healthcare, alongside Mercer University School of Medicine and its Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center. In 2024 alone, Children's provided more than $45 million in unreimbursed Medicaid and charity care to patients from rural Georgia, and it funds full-tuition scholarships for medical students who commit to practicing in rural communities post-residency.

    That statewide reach extends beyond physical care, too. Some think of Children's for taking care of kids' bodies, but the system takes care of kids' minds as well -- work that has never mattered more. Three years ago, Children's opened the Zalik Behavioral and Mental Health Center, an outpatient facility dedicated solely to pediatric behavioral and mental health. The organization also invests more than $10 million a year in child advocacy work, including suicide prevention, injury prevention and reducing childhood obesity.

    None of this work comes cheap. It costs $7.5 million a day to run Children's, and the system cannot do it without community and government support. Of the more than 3,000 kids who visit Children's each day, more than half need financial assistance. Fifty seven percent of Children's patients are covered by Medicaid, PeachCare for Kids or are otherwise unable to cover the full cost of their care, making Children's one of the largest Medicaid providers in Georgia.
    
Compared with a similar study using 2014 data, Children's gross economic impact has grown from $3.72 billion, in inflation-adjusted dollars, to $6.12 billion. Researchers say this growth reflects both the system's statewide expansion and the rising need for pediatric medical and behavioral care across Georgia.

About Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

    As the only freestanding pediatric healthcare system in Georgia, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is the trusted leader in caring for kids. The not-for-profit organization’s mission is to make kids better today and healthier tomorrow through more than 60 pediatric specialties and programs, top healthcare professionals, and leading research and technology. Children’s is one of the largest pediatric clinical care providers in the country, managing more than one million patient visits annually at three hospitals (Arthur M. Blank Hospital, Hughes Spalding Hospital and Scottish Rite Hospital), Marcus Autism Center, the Center for Advanced Pediatrics, the Zalik Behavioral and Mental Health Center, urgent care centers and neighborhood locations. Consistently ranked among the top children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has impacted the lives of kids in Georgia, across the United States and around the world for more than 100 years thanks to generous support from the community.