Delos "Toby" Cosgrove, MD, president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic, told President Donald Trump he disapproved of the executive order that suspended America's refugee program and temporarily banned travel from seven Middle Eastern countries, according to STAT.
"I think they realized it was not implemented well and they listened and we'll have to see what they take back," Dr. Cosgrove said of his conversation with President Trump. Dr. Cosgrove made the remark Wednesday following his annual State of the Clinic speech to hospital staff and guests, according to the report.
The executive order, which the president signed Jan. 27, prevented a Sudanese Cleveland Clinic physician from entering the U.S. after visiting family in Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Cosgrove's ties to the president through his participation on a panel of business advisors and the clinic's planned annual fundraiser Feb. 25 at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., spurred criticism and protests by Cleveland Clinic employees and others, including members of the clinic's founding family.
Dr. Cosgrove and other members of the panel met with President Trump shortly after he signed the executive order, but he hasn't disclosed his interactions with the president until now, according to STAT. Dr. Cosgrove emphasized the negative repercussions the order could have on patients and healthcare providers.
"I spoke…about the importance of allowing people from around the world to come to the United States for health care, and for people to come to the United States for training at various levels," Dr. Cosgrove said, according to the report.
In response to protesters of the Cleveland Clinic's fundraiser at the Mar-a-Lago resort, Dr. Cosgrove said, "I think it's fine for people to express their opinions," though he added the clinic has been holding its events there for six years and the fundraiser helps raise money for important medical services. "It is a facility that's appropriate for what we're trying to do. We made this arrangement over a year ago, and it's too late to make a change and I'm not sure a change is going to make a substantial difference," he said, according to STAT.