Cleveland Clinic will not hold its 2018 fundraising gala at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., cleveland.com reports.
"After careful consideration, Cleveland Clinic has decided that it will not hold a Florida fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago in 2018. We thank the staff of Mar-a-Lago for their service over the years," Eileen Shiel, Cleveland Clinic's executive director of corporate communications, said in an emailed statement to Becker's Hospital Review.
The health system previously reaffirmed its intent Aug. 11 to hold the fundraising gala at the resort despite numerous petitions calling on Cleveland Clinic to move the annual winter event to another location.
The decision follows Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove's decision to remain a member of one of President Trump's business advisory councils Aug. 16. President Trump later disbanded both councils after several executives resigned citing the way in which the president addressed recent violence in Charlottesville, Va.