Cleveland Clinic invested $1.4 billion in community benefit for its operations in Ohio, Florida and Nevada in 2021, up from $1.3 billion the previous year. Nonprofit hospitals are required to provide a health benefit to the communities they serve to to maintain their tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service.
Seven things to know:
1. Cleveland Clinic said it aims to create healthier communities in the areas it serves through operating as a leader in public health and high-quality patient care; hiring by developing the local workforce and forging meaningful connections with youth; and investing through community benefit and philanthropic partnerships.
2. In 2021, Cleveland Clinic — the largest provider of Medicaid outpatient visits, inpatient days and both Medicaid costs and payments in Ohio — spent more than $600 million in to cover care for this group of patients. It also provided financial assistance to almost 140,000 patients who were unable to pay some or all of their medical bills.
3. The health system said it is also committed to hiring local employees. It is a founding member of OneTen, a group of large U.S. employers formed to train, hire and promote 1 million Black Americans into jobs with opportunities for growth. So far, it has had more than 1,100 hires and promotions.
4. In 2021, Cleveland Clinic's goal was to hire 15 percent of its total workforce from the city. The health system exceeded this goal by hiring 1,080 new caregivers from the City of Cleveland, which equates to 15.23 percent.
5. Cleveland Clinic also created the Aspire Nurse Scholars Program, a local high school and college program that aims to improve healthcare diversity, address opportunity gaps and reduce health disparities. Each year, 25 students enroll in Aspire. Five program graduates are employed by Cleveland Clinic.
6. Almost 19,000 physicians have trained at Cleveland Clinic. In the 2020-21 academic year, 23 percent of those trainees stayed in Ohio. Thirty-six percent of staff physicians in Ohio and Florida trained at Cleveland Clinic. As part of its commitment to education, more than 1,200 high school and college students have participated in Cleveland Clinic's community education programs since 2006.
7. From 2017-2021, Cleveland Clinic has received more than $1 billion in research funding. Last year, this funding supported more than 3,200 projects, including brain study to prevent and cure neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke and epilepsy. In 2021, the health system developed plans to co-invest $300 million towards new and existing research labs.
"By working closely with our neighbors and community advisory councils, and conducting health needs assessments, we are able to identify health-related gaps and make direct, meaningful contributions that are critical to attaining the highest level of health," Vickie Johnson, Cleveland Clinic's director of economic development and community engagement, said in a Dec. 13 news release. "Collaborating with organizations that share this commitment, we can impact social determinants of health more broadly than we could alone."