New MetroHealth CEO Airica Steed, EdD, RN, told cleveland.com in a recent interview that she is supportive of the Cleveland-based health system's $1 billion "hospital-in-a-park" vision as she conducts due diligence on plans.
"I would not characterize any efforts as on pause and in fact, we are full steam ahead," she said in the interview.
The remarks come after MetroHealth fired Akram Boutros, MD, in November for allegedly authorizing more than $1.9 million in supplemental bonuses for himself without notifying the board. Dr. Boutros, through his attorney, has maintained that the MetroHealth board approved the bonus program and knew the CEO was included in it.
According to cleveland.com, the firing raised questions about the future of the health system's partially realized $1 billion campus transformation. Dr. Steed took the helm in December.
She told cleveland.com that she is supportive of the health system's vision of turning its 52-acre main campus into a "hospital in a park" and now needs to conduct due diligence to ensure plans are aligned with existing needs.
According to cleveland.com, MetroHealth's plan, scheduled for 2024, was the demolition of an outpatient pavilion built in the 1990s to create space for a large part of the envisioned 12-acre park.
Dr. Steed told cleveland.com that she "need[s] to catch my breath a bit and catch up on all the plans," but that the hospital-in-a-park concept "is not on the back burner by any stretch of the imagination."
In November, MetroHealth opened its new Glick Center hospital as part of the campus transformation plan.
Other parts of the campus transformation, such as a new, 700-space garage west of the Glick Center and the upcoming completion of the new $140 million Apex Building, are scheduled in upcoming phases, according to cleveland.com.
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