Cleveland Clinic to close East Cleveland hospital
The Cleveland Clinic will close East Cleveland’s Huron Hospital within 90 days because of a decline in patients and the expense of maintaining one of the city’s oldest healthcare facilities.
In a message posted on the hospital’s website, Cleveland Clinic officials said the decision to close Huron Hospital was a difficult one. “We did not come to this decision lightly,” the message reads. “Over the years we have experienced a steady decline in patients using Huron Hospital, a rapidly shrinking population, costly maintenance of the hospital’s aging facilities, as well as a dramatic shift in the way healthcare is delivered.”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that Huron Hospital has lost more than $77 million in the last decade and that the hospital’s 211 beds are usually only half full. On some days, the hospital has as few as 47 hospitalized patients.
Cleveland Clinic officials said Huron Hospital will provide outpatient care until the new Cleveland Clinic Huron Community Health Center opens on October 3.
The new health center will offer chronic disease management, primary care for adults and children and prevention and wellness education. According to a press release, the $25 million, three-story, 50,000-square-foot-outpatient facility will offer imaging and specialty care services, a 21-bed outpatient dialysis unit and patient navigators.
The Plain Dealer reported that Cleveland and East Cleveland filed a joint lawsuit last October to keep the Cleveland Clinic from closing Huron Hospital’s trauma unit. The lawsuit was withdrawn after city officials engaged in talks, but the two cities are now considering whether they should refile.
