Cleveland: Cleveland Clinic News & Info

[musky]

*** relocated ***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This might be a tall order, but there are so many Cleveland Clinic threads. Is it possible to condense these down to a few (construction, economic, urban bar, whatever)?

It took me much longer then I wanted to give to find a place to put this.

Cleveland Clinic part of new cardiac surgery clinical trials network
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Regina McEnery
Plain Dealer Reporter

Heart bypasses are on the decline, but the lucrative and evolving field of cardiac surgery is busier than ever, prompting the government to create an unusual clinical trials network that will look at which novel surgical techniques work best in which patients.

The Cleveland Clinic is part of that $35 million network. It expects to launch its first study next year.

"The moment is right," said Dr. Eugene Blackstone, a cardiothoracic surgeon from the Clinic who has developed mathematical models that measure surgical outcomes in heart patients. "Cardiac surgery is no longer dominated by a single operation. There are new techniques, new devices, hybrid devices that go way beyond the routine bypass grafting."

Blackstone and Dr. A. Marc Gillinov, a Clinic surgeon who specializes in minimally invasive heart valve surgery, are part of the network. It also includes specialists from Columbia University Medical Center, Duke University Medical Center, Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, Montreal Heart Institute, University of Virginia Heart Center and Montefiore-Einstein Heart Center in New York.

more at: http://www.cleveland.com

[MyTwoSense]

Musky, are you cranky today?

Can you (or a mod) change the title of this thread?   Although  your intentions are pure, when searching for topics related to the Cleveland Clinic this will only add to others frustration, since Clininc is not a word.  Your efforts are futile!     

[musky]

I had to take a time out and drink my own coffee.
All better now.

[buildingcincinnati]

This might be a tall order, but there are so many Cleveland Clinic threads. Is it possible to condense these down to a few (construction, economic, urban bar, whatever)?

Can some of you Clevelanders help me by listing the links of these threads?  It would make it so much easier to figure out which ones to merge, etc.

Thanks.

[musky]

After searching for relevant threads (mostly in the Business and Economy container), it might be best to leave things as the are.
The last time I suggested a move... well, my butt still hurts.

[musky]

WCPN:

New Cardiovascular Center at Cleveland Clinic
Aired Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The movement to attract biomedical companies from around the nation and the world to Cleveland received a large boost this week. ideastream's Rick Jackson has more.

The announcement comes from the Cleveland Clinic, leading 20 academic and medical institutions in the project, and Team NEO, the business recruiting arm of the area's chambers of commerce.

Their joint venture -- the Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center, or GCIC, will be the most visible and costly push yet to entice state-of-the-art technology companies to either relocate, or send portions of their operations to Cleveland.

Clinic technology Executive Director Chris Coburn calls the center an important catalyst for not only the medical community, but for the entire Northeast Ohio economy. He says several companies are already showing high interest about locating to a region populated by other cutting edge heart specialist firms.

Chris Coburn: They will see that being in this community of CVI will help their bottom line, help them develop their products more quickly, validate their technology, putting them as part of a continuous chance of perspective to discuss their ideas with top physicians.

Interest comes not only because of the Clinic, but because 11 of the top 100 rated cardiovascular related companies in the U.S. News' rankings are already located in Ohio. This push is to increase that number, and Cleveland's standing in the medical world.

Chris Coburn: There are many novel aspects as to what the GCIC represents, and we believe we are applying lessons about how new cardiovascular technology emerges and gets to patients.

A new building alongside the clinic complex on cedar road will house some of the planned operations. The $250 million price tag for the new center includes a portion of a $60 million state grant for biotechnology development. Rick Jackson, 90.3.

http://www.wcpn.org/index.php/WCPN/news/6974/

[musky]

pd:

$2 million Cleveland Clinic gift helps schools, OneClassroom boost digital learning
$2 million boosts broadband network in NE Ohio classes
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Ellen Jan Kleinerman
Plain Dealer Reporter

A $2 million Cleveland Clinic donation announced Tuesday will help more Northeast Ohio teachers link their classrooms to digital and interactive video learning.

The grant to OneCommunity will provide tools and training to teachers with the goal of extending the existing educational broadband network, called OneClassroom, to 1,500 public and private school buildings across 18 counties.

The grant is part of the Clinic's five-year, $10 million commitment, first announced in 2005, to enhance education in area elementary and secondary schools...

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1188376336105410.xml&coll=2

[musky]

Clinic explores linking medical school with Columbia U., not Case
Medical school may switch affiliation from Case
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Regina McEnery
Plain Dealer Reporter

Three years after welcoming its first class, the Cleveland Clinic is negotiating to switch the academic affiliation of its Lerner College of Medicine from Case Western Reserve University to Columbia University.

Officials from the Clinic and the two universities declined to comment Tuesday on the possible switch. But sources told The Plain Dealer that Columbia officials plan to visit the city soon and that an announcement christening the new arrangement is a possibility.

If so, the move is sure to leave behind bruised feelings at Case, which partnered with the Clinic to create the unique training program for physician-scientists, then quickly saw its standing in the highly competitive federal research arena rise...

http://www.cleveland.com/medical/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/118898339842920.xml&coll=2

[8ShadesofGray]

Whoa. That's pretty big news.

[the pope]

can anyone come up with a tangible reason?

Seems like more or less a slap in the face case?

[8ShadesofGray]

It seemed like the story played up the affiliation of Lerner with both Case and Columbia. But I can't imagine that alone would justify such a transition. Perhaps Columbia left a bag of money on Carnegie?

[musky]

Cleveland Clinic link with Columbia would be formidable, but would damage CWRU
A Cleveland Clinic alliance with Columbia University would be formidable, but it would damage CWRU
Thursday, September 06, 2007

Changing partners?

A Cleveland Clinic alliance with Columbia University would be formidable, but it would damage CWRU

When the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University announced in May 2002 that they would open a specialty medical school to train clinical researchers, the hosannas echoed from University Circle to the farthest exurbs.

The university, it was hoped, would be the harness that would finally get Northeast Ohio's medical powerhouses pulling together.

A real, working partnership - at least on some matters - would strengthen this region's claim as a medical mecca. Great minds and new research dollars would flow in, and stay. Allied industries - medical devices, nanotechnology, materials science - would follow and grow. The school's graduates would burnish the names of all three institutions - the Clinic, CWRU and University Hospitals.

more at: http://www.cleveland.com

[X]

I don't understand the logistics of this.  Do students at the Lerner School have to take classes at the affiliated university?  Do they share professors/space/infrastucture with the affiliate?  How does this work with 500 miles between the two institutions?

[musky]

Crain's:
Foundation awards Clinic $1M grant

By SHANNON MORTLAND

9:21 am, September 6, 2007

The Cleveland Clinic has received a $1 million grant to research and create stem cell-based therapies for cardiovascular disease.

The Skirball Foundation, which was founded in 1950 in Cleveland but now is based in New York, provided the gift. The grant will support research in the Skirball Laboratory for Cardiovascular Cellular Therapeutics, which will be overseen by Dr. Marc Penn, director of the Clinic’s Cardiovascular Medicine Research Group for Cell Therapy.

Researchers in the lab will study different stem cells to determine how cell-based therapies can be created and used to restore normal heart function.

“Stem cell therapies hold the keys to identifying not only how we can preserve the heart after a heart attack, but how we can fully repair it,” Dr. Penn said. “This grant will enable us to explore the mechanisms of a variety of stem cell populations, ultimately giving us the basis for genetically engineering stem cells that can be used to repair damaged heart tissue.”

[MuRrAy HiLL]

 
Wednesday, October 31, 2007 - 11:20 AM EDT
Cleveland Clinic signs CityPlace Tower leaseSouth Florida Business Journal

Cleveland Clinic Florida Health and Wellness Center has leased nearly 29,000 square feet at the CityPlace Tower in West Palm Beach, which is scheduled to open in January 2008.

Grubb & Ellis Senior Vice President Richard Linevsky represented Cleveland Clinic on the lease negotiations, and Jon Blunk, senior vice president of Crocker Partners, represented CityPlace Tower.

Cleveland Clinic will have 26,648 square feet of space on the 14th floor and 2,298 square feet on the ground floor.

At the CityPlace location, Cleveland Clinic will offer access to specialists in internal medicine, neurology, orthopedic, spine, pulmonary, colorectal and heart, with others added as needed.

The new facility will also include an imaging center with MRI and CT scan services. The clinic expects to move from its current location on Flagler Drive to CityPlace in the third quarter of 2008, and will continue to operate from its main location in Weston.

CityPlace Tower is a $110 million, 18-story office building on Okeechobee Boulevard. A joint venture between the Related Cos. of New York and Crocker Partners of Boca Raton, it will be the first Class A office building to be built in West Palm Beach since 1989.

It is 60 percent leased. Tenants include Intech, Carlton Fields, P.A., Shutts & Bowen, JBHanauer & Co., Regions Financial Corp. and Goodrich LLC.

[musky]

Cleveland Clinic gives $2.3 million to city schools
Posted by Ellen Jan Kleinerman November 29, 2007 14:43PM
Categories: Education

The Cleveland Clinic today announced a $2.3 million donation to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District for elementary math and English textbooks.

This is part of the $10 million in cash and services that the Clinic pledged in 2005 to give to area schools over a five-year period. Rosalind Strickland, senior director of the Clinic's Office of Civic Education Initiatives, said Cleveland public schools requested the money as it continues to align its courses to state standards. The books have been purchased and are being used by students now, she said.

The Clinic's previous donations include: $2.6 million in 2006 to buy math and science textbooks for Cleveland public students in grades 6 through 10; $1 million in 2006 to Cleveland schools to connect buildings to the OneCommunity distance learning network; $38,000 to Entrepreneurship Preparatory School for computers at the charter school; and $2 million in 2006 to connect suburban schools to OneCommunity.

more at: http://www.cleveland.com

[musky]

Cleveland Clinic Twinsburg facility will be outpatient and surgery center
Outpatient services, surgery part of plan
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Joan Mazzolini
Plain Dealer Reporter

The Cleveland Clinic's new facility in Twinsburg will be a four-story, $71.5 million outpatient medical clinic and surgery center, complete with a helipad and a full-time emergency department, officials announced this week.

The Clinic paid about $5 million for 84 acres on Darrow Road (Ohio 91) near Interstate 480 in the last few years and at the time said it was deciding what kind of facility to build.

The size of the property gives the Clinic the ability to expand the planned 168,500-square-foot center into a full-service hospital.

more at: http://www.cleveland.com

[MuRrAy HiLL]

More influence worldwide for the Cleveland Clinic:

http://www.pharmalive.com/News/index.cfm?articleid=507504&categoryid=63

Cleveland Clinic Is Gold Sponsor of Arab Health 2008

Team of nine medical professionals will offer expertise on various Medical, Leadership and Healthcare IT Topics

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, January 22, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Booth # 2C10 -- Cleveland Clinic, one of the world's leading healthcare institutions and the number one heart center in the United States is a Gold Sponsor of the Arab Health Congress 2008 -- the region's leading medical event. The Gold Sponsorship is a demonstration of the Clinic's commitment to the Middle East region and in offering world-leading healthcare expertise for the benefit of patients throughout the Gulf.

In addition to the sponsorship, nine of the Clinic's leading doctors and professionals will be speaking at the Arab Health Congress, which will be held at Dubai's International Exhibition Center from January 28th to the 31st.

President and CEO of Cleveland Clinic, Delos M. "Toby" Cosgrove, M.D., said, "Cleveland Clinic has long been committed to the Middle East region. We value this significant opportunity to share our expertise, knowledge and insights, and learn from other specialists, about some of the most important topics facing medical professionals, and patients today."


    A summary of the Clinic's speakers and their topics follows below:

    Delos M. "Toby" Cosgrove, M.D., CEO Cleveland Clinic, will present on
    'Patient Centered Healthcare,' at the Leaders in Healthcare Congress on
    Monday, January 28th. Dr. Cosgrove will discuss the Clinic's move to the
    'institutes' model whereby patients receive better quality care, with
    direct access to the most suitable 'institute' for their healthcare
    requirement.

    Paul Matsen, Chief Marketing, Communications and Planning Officer will be
    part of the speaker faculty at the Global Healthcare Marketing Congress,
    sharing his insights on 'Building Healthcare Brands,' on Tuesday January
    29th.

    Dr. Martin Harris, M.B.A. -- Chief Information Officer and Chairman of the
    Information Technology Division at Cleveland Clinic will share his
    knowledge on 'Transforming the Practice of Medicine through Information
    Technology' at the IT in Healthcare Forum on Monday, January 28th.

    Dr. Phillip Schauer -- Director of Advanced Laparoscopic and Bariatric
    Surgery will discuss 'Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery' at the Surgery
    Congress on Tuesday, January 29th.

    Dr. Murat Tuzcu -- Director of the Intravascular Ultrasound Laboratory in
    the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, will deliver a presentation on
    'What is in the Pipeline for the Percutaneous Valve Treatment?' at the
    Interventional Cardiology Congress on Monday, January 28th.

    Dr. Wael K. Barsoum, Vice Chairman, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery,
    will present his research on 'Impingement in Hip Arthroplasty' on Tuesday,
    January 29th at the Orthopaedics Congress. He will additionally address
    the topic of 'Computer Assisted Navigation in Total Knee Replacement'.

    Dr. Joseph Iannotti -- Chairman of the Orthopedic and Rheumatologic
    Institute, will discuss 'In 2007 is there a Role for Open Acromioplasty
    and Rotator Cuff Repair' and 'Shoulder Replacement for Trauma' at the
    Orthopaedics Congress on Tuesday, January 29th.

    Dr. Sandip Vasavada -- Urologic Director at the Center for Female Pelvic
    Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at the Glickman Urological and Kidney
    Institute will present 'Evaluation and Management of Stress Urinary
    Incontinence' at the Middle East Urology Congress on Wednesday, January
    30th.

    Dr. Daniel Mazenec -- Vice Chairman at the Center for Spine Health,
    Cleveland Clinic will present on 'Back Pain -- Red Flags and Non-Surgical
    Management,' at the Musculoskeletal Conference on Monday, January 28th.



Cleveland Clinic has a long history of treating patients from the Middle East. The Clinic's participation in the Arab Health Congress is in recognition of the increasing demands for healthcare services in the region. Cleveland Clinic has its own International Center to help facilitate the journey for international patients who need to travel to Cleveland Clinic for care. The International Center helps to coordinate travel arrangements, lodging and medical appointments for patients and physicians from around the world, and services for patients such as interpreters for health care appointments.

The annual U. S. News & World Report, "America's Best Hospitals" recently ranked Cleveland Clinic Heart Center as number one in the United States for the 13th consecutive year. Cleveland Clinic was also ranked among the three best hospitals in the United States out of more than six thousand surveyed hospitals, and the Taussig Cancer Institute was ranked 14th in the United States. Overall, the survey ranked 16 specialties at the Clinic among the best in the United States and deemed eleven of those specialties to be among the top ten.

The Cleveland Clinic Urological Institute and Digestive Disease Center are also ranked very near the top of their fields. The institution's specialties of orthopaedics, otolaryngology, nephrology, neurology/neurological surgery, rheumatology, pulmonary, endocrinology, and geriatrics are each positioned in America's top ten. Other specialties noted for excellence at Cleveland Clinic include ophthalmology, gynecology, cancer, and psychiatry. Cleveland Clinic has approximately 1,800 physicians and researchers on their staff, representing 120 specialties and subspecialties. In 2005, Cleveland Clinic provided for nearly 3 million outpatient visits and more than 50,000 hospital admissions from more than 80 nations, including patients from across the Arab world.

About Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is a not-for-profit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey. Approximately 1,800 full-time salaried physicians and researchers at Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Florida represent more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties. In 2006, there were 3.1 million outpatient visits to Cleveland Clinic. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 80 countries. There were more than 53,000 hospital admissions to Cleveland Clinic in 2006. Cleveland Clinic's Web site address is www.clevelandclinic.org.

The Cleveland Clinic currently manages Sheikh Khalifa Medical City and signed an agreement with UAE-based company, Mubadala, in September 2005, to design and build a new preeminent first-class specialty hospital in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, by 2011.

[ohio1221]

Looks like Atrium I in Cincinnati!

[StrapHanger]

Check this out from today's PD (http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/01/cleveland_clinic_has_its_eyes.html):


Cleveland Clinic has its eyes on a global brand
Posted by Steven Litt January 29, 2008 05:00AM
Categories: Impact, Medical
HDR ArchitectsPlan for the new Cleveland Clinic branch hospital on Al Sowa Island in Abu Dhabi.
The Cleveland Clinic took a major step toward going global on Sunday when a government development company in Abu Dhabi broke ground for a visually striking branch hospital to be run by the Clinic...

I loved this part of the article...

Cosgrove said he wants to use the worldwide expansion as an opportunity to revolutionize hospital architecture by hiring some of the world's greatest contemporary architects to design the new buildings. He has expressed the same ambition for the Clinic's campus in Cleveland.

[MuRrAy HiLL]

Well....I guess more influence by the Cleveland Clinic--

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/cleveland-clinic-collaborates-with-google,286907.shtml


Cleveland Clinic Collaborates with Google 
Posted : Thu, 21 Feb 2008 05:01:10 GMT
Author : Cleveland Clinic 
Category : PressRelease   
 
CLEVELAND, Feb. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Cleveland Clinic, a world-class academic medical institution and leader in health information technology, today announced a collaboration with Google, the world's leading Internet search company, to pilot features and services of a new health offering from Google. The Google offering, not yet publicly available, will assist providers like Cleveland Clinic to create a new kind of healthcare experience that puts the patient in charge of his or her own health information.

Today, more than 100,000 Cleveland Clinic patients benefit from Cleveland Clinic's electronic personal health record (PHR) system called eCleveland Clinic MyChart(R). The pilot, an invitation-only opportunity offered to a group of Cleveland Clinic PHR users, plans to enroll between 1,500 and 10,000 patients. It will test secure exchange of patient medical record data such as prescriptions, conditions and allergies between their Cleveland Clinic PHR to a secure Google profile in a live clinical delivery setting. The ultimate goal of this patient-centered and controlled model is to give patients the ability to interact with multiple physicians, healthcare service providers and pharmacies.

"Patients are more proactively managing their own healthcare information," said C. Martin Harris, M.D., Chief Information Officer, Cleveland Clinic. "At Cleveland Clinic, we strive to participate in and help to advance the national dialogue around a more efficient and effective national healthcare system. Utilizing Cleveland Clinic's PHR expertise, this collaboration is intended to help Google test features and services that will ultimately allow all Americans (as patients) to direct the exchange of their medical information between their various providers without compromising their privacy."

The pilot will eventually extend Cleveland Clinic's online patient services to a broader audience while enabling the portability of patient data so patients can take their data with them wherever they go-even outside the Cleveland Clinic Health System.

"We believe patients should be able to easily access and manage their own health information," said Marissa Mayer, Vice President, Search Products and User Experience, Google. "We chose Cleveland Clinic as one of the first partners to pilot our new health offering because as a provider, they already empower their patients by giving them online tools that help them manage their medical records online and coordinate care with their doctors."

By integrating with the Google platform, Cleveland Clinic is helping create national access to electronic medical records at no cost to the user or provider. The integration between the two systems will help deliver:

-- National Access-A more efficient and effective healthcare system driven by a working interoperability model that moves electronic medical records from a closed model to one that is open and connected. -- Consumer Empowerment-A secure patient-centric, consumer-driven tool that will provide each consumer increased control of their medical care, without compromising their privacy. This will empower patients to actively manage their overall health. -- 24/7 Access/Portability-A web portal with 24/7 access, capable of providing the consumer with an opportunity to actively engage in their health care, heightening the importance of quality care and service by providers.

"The partnership with Google is an example of true innovation in health care which brings value to patients and providers," said Delos M. "Toby" Cosgrove, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Cleveland Clinic, and member of the Google Health Advisory Council. "As the volume of medical information available to patients increases, it becomes more important for doctors and patients to use this information in a way that empowers the patient to be more collaborative with their care providers."

About Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is a not-for-profit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey. Approximately 1,800 full-time salaried physicians and researchers at Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Florida represent more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties. In 2006, there were 3.1 million outpatient visits to Cleveland Clinic. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 80 countries. There were more than 53,000 hospital admissions to Cleveland Clinic in 2006. Cleveland Clinic's Web site address is http://www.clevelandclinic.org/.

About Google Inc.

Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.google.com/. For information on the Google Health Advisory Council, visit the following blog post: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/new-advisory-group-on-health.html.

[Oldmanladyluck]

Good article about how the Clinic is changing the city (and to an extent, the perception of the city).

 Cities and hospitals
Mayo with everything

Feb 21st 2008 | CLEVELAND
From The Economist print edition
What happens when a clinic takes over a metropolis?

VISIT Rochester, Minnesota on an average winter morning and the frozen streets are virtually empty. But inside the Mayo Clinic's lovely Gonda building, designed by Cesar Pelli, the city throbs with life. The hospital's lobby is filled with patients and visitors. At noon, underground walkways teem with nurses and doctors buying lunch. In the evening fleets of buses take them home. Visitors retreat to nearby hotels and restaurants, built around Mayo especially for its guests.

All this is an extreme example of a growing phenomenon. After the 20th-century factory town, such as Flint, Michigan, comes the 21st-century hospital town. Rural hospitals are often the main employers in their communities. Even Flint is trying to re-position itself as a medical hub. But a select few cities have entered the era of the mega-hospital. The most dramatic are Rochester, a medium-sized city where Mayo has long been a star business, and Cleveland, Ohio, a rustbelt city that has seen its hospitals boom and one, the Cleveland Clinic, become a new economic force. Each hospital is a behemoth: Mayo's revenues in 2006 totalled $6.3 billion, Cleveland's $4.4 billion.

Their success stems from medical innovations and excellent care. The Cleveland Clinic is America's best heart hospital; Mayo tops the rankings for neurology, digestive disorders and endocrinology. Cleveland and Mayo have also expanded through mergers with other hospitals to form regional health systems. Cleveland's system includes nine community hospitals and three affiliates in Ohio. Mayo's system extends into Wisconsin and Iowa. Ambitious investment has helped them grow, too. When two gleaming new buildings are completed in Cleveland, the clinic will cover about 12m square feet (1.1m square metres), almost twice the size of the Pentagon. Mayo's Rochester campus is bigger still, at 15m square feet.

With this growth has come a steady increase in staff. Cleveland's 37,350 employees make it Ohio's second-largest private employer, after Wal-Mart. Mayo is Minnesota's biggest private employer, with a staff of more than 30,000 in Rochester and several thousand more who work for the regional health system. “One thing to note”, says the Cleveland Clinic's chief executive, Delos Cosgrove, “is that health-care jobs are good jobs.” Another thing worth noting is that neither the Cleveland Clinic nor Mayo has been touched by the national push to unionise nurses.

The size of the health giants ensures that their reach extends far beyond the examination room. Each, for example, has made its city something of a destination for “health tourists” (people who come for operations or check-ups) and conferees. Rochester received 2.5m visitors in 2007; about 70% of these came to visit Mayo. At the last count, Rochester had the same number of hotel rooms as nearby Minneapolis, which is about four times as large.

The Cleveland Clinic has taken on many of the traits of a hospitality group. Its main campus served almost 3m patients in 2006, bending over backwards for them. A posh international centre offers translators, coffee and foreign newspapers. The clinic owns three hotels and lets the InterContinental hotel group manage them. The most expensive hotel, built in 2003, has space for conferences and plush suites, popular among royal patients from the Middle East.

In addition to importing visitors, each hospital has turned its city into an exporter of sorts. Each is spinning off technologies and start-ups. Mayo has hospitals in Florida and Arizona. The Cleveland Clinic has begun to offer management expertise, for a fee, to a handful of hospitals around the country. It already has facilities in Florida, a “wellness centre” in Toronto and projects under way in Abu Dhabi and Vienna. Cleveland's manufacturing base may have declined, but its main commodity in future may be cardiac expertise.

For all this activity, community relations remain a work in progress. Mayo has dominated Rochester for so long, donating to a host of local programmes, that the mayor—himself a former Mayo employee—calls the clinic “a gorilla, but...a very nice gorilla”. The Cleveland Clinic's relationship with its city is more complex. Cleveland is much larger than Rochester and much more racially diverse; the city has an industrial hangover and the attendant headaches of poverty and urban decay. The clinic itself sits in a poor neighbourhood where few employees live, preferring to drive in from the suburbs.

For years the clinic played only a minor role in the area. Under Dr Cosgrove, who became its chief executive in 2004, this has changed. The clinic is working with local groups to support redevelopment and to open community health-centres. Chris Warren, the city's regional development chief, says the clinic's relationship with Cleveland is “more positive than it has ever been”.

Mayo and the Cleveland Clinic seem likely to grow, but neither is immune to the challenges that face the rest of America's hospitals, such as low Medicaid reimbursement rates and labour shortages. The latter is a particular problem. Doctors are relatively easy to recruit to such a place. Harder to fill are the thousands of other jobs, from nurses to lab technicians.

Much energy is directed towards education, through gifts to local schools and programmes to teach students about careers in health care. The premise is that the hospital cannot succeed without a successful city. “Our future”, Dr Cosgrove has said, “is intimately tied with the future of Cleveland.” And, increasingly, vice versa.

[MuRrAy HiLL]

This is the only mention of Cleveland in this article,...but I found it very interesting with the listed countries being pursued to expand the Cleveland Clinic "brand."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08057/860408-28.stm

"The Cleveland Clinic recently cited inquiries from 50 countries and a new hospital now under construction in Abu Dhabi as evidence of progress in building a worldwide medical "brand."

The Clinic is currently pursuing contracts in China, Guatemala, Brazil, Egypt and India."

[MayDay]

Cleveland Clinic CEO says global expansion will fuel hospital system's growth

Posted by Regina McEnery February 27, 2008 11:38AM

The Cleveland Clinic's global reach, which has resulted in a three-year rise in international patients and the development of lucrative overseas partnerships, has put the sprawling health system in the driver's seat at a time when the rise in domestic health care spending and the city's fragile economy have put cast clouds over practically everyone's bottom line. "2008 is going to be even more impressive,'' said President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Toby Cosgrove during his annual address to Clinic employees on Wednesday.

More at cleveland.com http://blog.cleveland.com/medical/2008/02/cleveland_clinic_ceo_says_glob.html

[3231]

u r fun-knee.

Actually, I'm very curious about the financial incentives for employees who work out. Interesting.

[Florida Guy]

The only thing missing is the "people movers" like at the airports!  Do they have a gym at the clinic for employees?

[3231]

Do they have a gym at the clinic for employees?

Yes.

[jam40jeff]

The only thing missing is the "people movers" like at the airports!

Actually, don't they have these under Euclid Avenue going to the E. 93rd parking garage?

[MayDay]

They don't have "moving sidewalks", they have "golf-cart" trams like those you see at the airport.

[MyTwoSense]

MayDay.  lol   boy you crack me up!