Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is an American nonprofit academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation, Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 by a group of faculty and alumni from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Cleveland Clinic is consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the United States. For the past twenty years in the fields of cardiology, heart, and vascular surgery, Cleveland Clinic has been ranked and regarded as the best and highest-performing hospital in the world. In 2018–2019, the U.S. News & World Report ranked Cleveland Clinic as the number 2 hospital in the Best Hospitals Honor Roll, as it was nationally ranked in 14 adult and 10 pediatric specialties.
The Clinic runs a main campus in Cleveland, as well as 15 affiliated hospitals, 20 family health centers in Northeast Ohio, 5 affiliated hospitals in Florida, and cancer center in Nevada. International operations include the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi hospital in the United
Arab Emirates and Cleveland Clinic Canada, which has two executive health and sports medicine clinics in Toronto. Another hospital campus in the United Kingdom, Cleveland Clinic London, opened to outpatients in 2021 and fully opened in 2022. Cleveland Clinic conducts its pediatric operations through the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital. Tomislav Mihaljevic is the president and CEO.
Cleveland Clinic's operating revenue in 2024 was $15.94 billion and its operating income $276 million. That year it recorded 15.96 million patient visits, 332,991 admissions, and 82,608 employees. It is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, with which it started a physician-investigator medical training program: the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. Cleveland Clinic is also the teaching hospital for Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine. In addition, Cleveland Clinic has 1,974 residents and fellows in 104 training programs approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The Cleveland Clinic publishes the peer-reviewed journal Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine.
History
Beginnings
The organization grew out of the surgical practice of Frank J. Weed at 16 Church Street on the near-west side of Cleveland. The practice was purchased by his two assistants, Frank E. Bunts and George Washington Crile. In 1892 they were joined by Crile's cousin, William E. Lower, and in 1897 the practice moved to the Osborn Building on Prospect Avenue, downtown Cleveland.A four-story outpatient building was constructed, and Cleveland Clinic was dedicated at a private ceremony on February 26, 1921. It opened its doors two days later to the public and registered 42 patients. By April 1921, it had 60 employees, including 14 physicians and four nurses. In 1922 the founders purchased four private homes nearby for hospitalization, radiation treatment, and administration. A fifth house was acquired as a residence for patients with diabetes receiving insulin treatments. To meet rising patient volume, a 184-bed hospital was built in 1924, located at East 90th Street and Carnegie Avenue. A power plant, laundry, and ice plant were also built. A research laboratory was constructed in 1928.
Cleveland Clinic fire
On May 15, 1929, nitrocellulose x-ray films stored in the basement of the outpatient building ignited. An explosion sent a cloud of toxic oxides of nitrogen and carbon though the building. One hundred and twenty-three people, including John Phillips, one of the founders, lost their lives. A dozen investigating agencies were not able to determine what had caused the fire. Cleveland Clinic's own inquiry narrowed the possible causes down to spontaneous combustion caused by heat; a discarded cigarette or match; and contact with an extension cord light hung over a stack of films.Philanthropist Samuel Mather formed a committee of 36 community leaders to help Cleveland Clinic reestablish itself in temporary quarters across the street. Patient care services resumed five days later. The 1921 building was completely renovated, and a new three-story clinic building, with a new main entrance, was added in 1931. All debts were repaid by 1941.
Growth of specialization
Cleveland Clinic built new operating rooms in the early 1970s to accommodate the growth of cardiac surgery. The Martha Holden Jennings Education Building opened in 1964, with an auditorium named for Dr. Bunts. A new hospital building opened in 1966, and a research building opened in 1974. A pathology and laboratory medicine building was constructed on Carnegie Avenue in 1980.William S. Kiser, chairman of the board 1977–1989, led the development of a strategic plan to accommodate growing patient volumes in the late 1970s. This resulted in a group of buildings known as the Century Project. Completed in 1985, the Century Project includes a 14-story outpatient building designed by architect Cesar Pelli.
In September 2014, the Cleveland Clinic opened the center for Functional Medicine, directed by Mark Hyman. Other alternative medicine offerings at the Cleveland Clinic, such as reiki and hypnotherapy, came under controversy in 2017 after a then-Cleveland Clinic physician published an anti-vaccine article. then-CEO Toby Cosgrove stated that this was in response to patients who "want more than conventional medicine can offer." Nonetheless, shortly afterward, the hospital stopped selling some homeopathic products and discontinued online sales of wellness products.
Research and education
The Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute conducts biomedical research in a 480,000-square-foot building that opened in 1999, following a $16 million donation from Al and Norma Lerner in 1997, the largest single charitable donation made to the Cleveland Clinic up until that point. LRI hosts graduate student research through joint PhD programs in conjunction with nearby universities, including Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, Kent State University and the University of Akron.In 2002, the Lerners eclipsed their previous gift and made a $100 million donation to establish the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine within Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, opening in 2004. Physician researcher Eric Topol played an important role in securing the donation from the Lerner family. Topol served as Provost and Chief Academic Officer at CCLCM until 2006, when his position was eliminated amid controversy regarding his criticism of Vioxx and disagreements with other Cleveland Clinic leaders, including then-CEO Toby Cosgrove. CCLCM is a five-year medical school program affiliated with the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine with 32 students per class, each receiving a scholarship for full tuition and fees. While traditional MD-granting medical schools in the U.S. are four-year programs, the extra year in the program is dedicated to a year of research. The curriculum is notable for its lack of class rank, pre-clinical or clinical grading, or end-of-course examinations.
In 2019, Cleveland Clinic and Case Western opened the Samson Pavilion Health Education Campus on the campus of the Cleveland Clinic, a $515 million building project, amid a multi-million dollar joint fundraising campaign between CWRU and the Cleveland Clinic. The campus houses students Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and Case School of Dental Medicine, all of which—with the exception of CCLCM—had previously held classes on the campus of CWRU and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. The move, announced in 2013, was a major contributing factor for University Hospitals to shift its name from University Hospitals Case Medical Center to University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center in 2016, as well as renegotiate its affiliation agreement with CWRU that same year.
Cleveland Clinic publishes the peer-reviewed Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine monthly, focusing on internal medicine, endocrinology, and diabetes.
Reputation
Cleveland Clinic is consistently regarded as one of the top hospital systems in the United States and in the world, and it is well regarded particularly in technological management systems.Rankings
In 2020–2021, Cleveland Clinic was ranked as the #2 overall hospital in the United States by the U.S. News & World Report, behind the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. A total of 4,656 hospitals were considered in 12 main data-driven medical and surgical specialty areas and four additional specialty areas, collating data on patient safety, performance measures, and complication rates. Cleveland Clinic was found to be nationally ranked in 14 adult specialties and 10 children's specialties and was recognized as the #1 hospital in Ohio and in the Cleveland Metropolitan Area. It also achieved the highest rating possible in 9 specified procedures or conditions: abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, aortic valve surgery, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, colon cancer surgery, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, hip replacement, knee replacement, and lung cancer surgery. In addition, for the 14th year in a row, Cleveland Clinic was ranked as the #1 hospital in the United States for cardiology and heart surgery as a specialty. Similarly, in 2021, Newsweek named Cleveland Clinic the number 2 hospital in the world, behind Mayo Clinic.In 2021, Gartner ranked Cleveland Clinic as the #1 healthcare supply chain.
In 2022, the American Hospital Association partnered with the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development to engage the branding agency, Monigle, to conduct consumer research with 28,000 Americans to rank hospital brands "… on their performance in delivering a humanized experience". The Cleveland Clinic was ranked first, followed by two other Ohio systems. Other systems, including Johns Hopkins ranked 6th; Mass General, 11th; and the Mayo Clinic ranked 15th.