Plans for a new hospital were first announced in 2014, months after the old facility’s aging infrastructure was put to the test – and failed. A polar tornado delivered sub-cold temperatures and violent winds to the region, while also blowing up pipelines and flood rooms for MetroHealth.
Over the years, MetroHealth president and CEO Dr. Akram Boutros has recounted sharing with business and civic leaders the story of the polar vortex and hearing that MetroHealth’s hospital good enough for “those people.”
“These statements show that there is a significant lack of understanding about the important role MetroHealth plays in our community, and they are emblematic of attitudes that some of our neighbors deserve less. others,” Boutros said in remarks prepared for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Glick Center’s inauguration. “In a way, we are indebted to these people. They accused us. We were angry and determined to prove them wrong. Quickly, we designed and built two new floors on top of the Graduate School. research. And we have our own funding.”
The Critical Care Room, a 100,000 square foot vertical extension with 85 Intensive Care Units above the existing Level I Trauma Center, opened in 2016 as the first part of the transition. MetroHealth main facility change.
Jones said discussions to replace the towers quickly covered the entire 52-acre campus on West 25th Street. Leaders recognized that by the nature of the project, the campus would need to be reconfigured and rearranged. That led to discussions about how to best deliver care not as a medical system and a hospital but as a health and wellness system.
“It became the catalyst for a much broader community transformation, and that started then getting involved in the activities of the organization on its own,” Jones said. “First with population health recognition, the establishment of the HOPE Institute, the growth of our private, community development company CCH, and can now have a direct impact on other factors. element and the surrounding community.”
In partnership with public, private, nonprofit and civic partners, CCH Development Corp., founded by MetroHealth, aims to accelerate the revitalization of West 25th Street and its environs. Jones also points to MetroHealth’s Hope Institute (Health, Opportunity, Partnership and Empowerment), which addresses social dynamics for health, and Via Sana, a 72-year health and housing project affordable apartments, led by Cleveland-based developer NRP. The team partnered with MetroHealth.
Also part of the campus transition is the Apex building, an outpatient facility slated to be completed by the end of 2023 with the first patients seen in the first quarter of 2024. Demolition of existing campus buildings will follow, allowing space for the entire park to open in 2025. MetroHealth predicts the RFP for the park design will be available before the end of the year. now.
“The conversion piece, if you will, starts to expand and continues to expand beyond that,” he said. “And I think that’s been really important in my eight years – but you have to remember it was Dr. Boutros’ 10 – that, you know, it’s grown significantly in terms of vision, MetroHealth’s vision and you know, the role in the community as a corporate citizen in this corner of the Clark Fulton neighborhood, was evident during this time period.”
This story first appeared in our sister publication, Crain’s Cleveland Business.
