Ripple effects of the pandemic
Behind the massive efforts to get the community vaccinated was a network of partnerships forged and/or deepened in the pandemic.
One of the most notable collaborations of the year was the Cleveland Innovation District, a research and education partnership among five anchor institutions (Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University) that say they’re already making demonstrable headway on hiring, education and research.
The public-private partnership is backed by $565 million in startup funding, with $110 million coming from JobsOhio and about $155 million flowing to Cleveland Clinic from the state.
The Clinic has pledged to spend $300 million on projects for the district, which is designed to boost job growth and innovation in Northeast Ohio. Though the collaboration was in the works prior to the pandemic, the public health crisis helped unify and accelerate its formation.
Another key partnership formed during COVID was that between the Clinic and UH. The pandemic necessitated collaboration between Cleveland’s health care behemoths, historical competitors, as well as other regional hospitals and systems, including MetroHealth, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, Firelands Regional Medical Center and Southwest General Medical Center.
UH and the Clinic reflected on where they found common ground and lessons learned in a joint white paper, laying out a roadmap for future collaborations to address public health needs in the region.
This year also began to show more firmly the ways the pandemic has changed health care permanently.
The health crisis showed more than ever the link between public health and education, providing an opportunity to deepen relationships and expand the role of school health programs.
Plus, virtual care delivery is here to stay after COVID forced a seismic shift from in-person visits to telehealth appointments. Providers are now navigating its new role. The pandemic also highlighted how critical digital equity is in striving for health equity.
Leadership changes across Northeast Ohio’s health care landscape
This year also was marked by a number of health care leadership changes, beginning with the retirement of longtime University Hospitals CEO Tom Zenty, who left a legacy of transformative growth and handed the reins to Dr. Cliff Megerian.
Megerian’s tenure began with a continuation of that growth when, in April, Lake Health officially became a member of UH following their announcement in late 2020 that they intended to integrate. The Lake County provider is UH’s largest addition to date.
In September, Dr. Stan Gerson was named the permanent dean of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the university’s senior vice president for medical affairs. He had held both roles on an interim basis for more than a year.
In October, experienced hospital administrator Chris Gessner became president and CEO of Akron Children’s Hospital, succeeding Grace Wakulchik, who retired after spending the final two years of her nearly 30-year career at the hospital leading it.
Sisters of Charity Health System announced that it has tapped Janice G. Murphy to lead the Cleveland-based system as its current president and CEO Thomas Strauss steps down at the end of the year. Murphy has served as president and CEO of the system’s St. Vincent Charity Medical Center since 2019. Dr. Adnan Tahir — currently St. Vincent’s senior vice president and chief clinical and administrative officer — will succeed Murphy.
Also this year, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland (a ministry of the health system) sought the recommendations of a design group to create a health campus in Cleveland’s Central neighborhood, anchored by St. Vincent, that could add new services, programs and partners to the main campus.
Rounding out a year of these leadership shifts was an announcement from Dr. Akram Boutros that he plans to retire at the end of 2022, having served as MetroHealth’s president and CEO since 2013. After nearly a decade of leadership that brought long-term sustainability and substantial growth for the system, Boutros will hand off the system’s $1 billion transformation of its main campus to a new leader.
‘All of us want this to be over’
In the final days of 2021, UH and the Clinic held a joint media briefing to share current COVID figures and ask for diligence. It echoed similar briefings at the tail end of 2020 before holiday gatherings, though this year’s included pleas for vaccinations and boosters to help mitigate risk and slow the latest surge, driven by the latest variant, Omicron.
“This virus is so much more contagious than any of the other viral variants of COVID-19,” said Dr. Claudia Hoyen, Pediatric Infection Control, UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and co-director, Infection Control, University Hospitals. “And so it is really spreading like a wildfire across Northeast Ohio.”
As Omicron rapidly takes hold, diligence is a necessity, especially as health care staffing challenges persist and 22 months of a pandemic have worn many down to indifference.
Shannon Pengel, chief nursing officer at the Clinic’s main campus, perhaps summarized it best: “All of us want this to be over. All of us want to get back to normal, but please, get vaccinated, wear a mask if you’re out in public, and stay socially distanced this holiday season.”