
William Peacock, Chief of Operations, Cleveland Clinic, State Sen. Gayle Manning, US Congressman Robert Gibbs, Brian Donley, MD, Cleveland Clinic President of Community Hospitals, Toby Cosgrove, MD, Chief Executive Officer and President of Cleveland Clinic. John Costin, MD, Chairman, Cleveland Clinic Lorain Institute, Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen, State Rep. Terry Boose, and Rebecca Ware, MD, Vice Chair, Cleveland Clinic Lorain Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital groundbreaking.
Expansion Brings Inpatient Services to Lorain County
Designed as a “hospital of the future,” Cleveland Clinic broke ground on Thurs., Oct. 23, on its new hospital in Avon. It is scheduled to open in 2016.
The five-story, 221,500-square-foot addition, estimated at more than $143 million, will be built onto the north side of the existing Richard E. Jacobs Health Center located off Nagel Road. The new facility will have 126 private hospital rooms, including a small intensive care unit which can be converted into an observation or a medical-surgical unit based on patient needs.
“The Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital is a new kind of hospital for a new era in healthcare,” said Toby Cosgrove, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and President of Cleveland Clinic. “The design reflects everything we’ve learned about 21st century healthcare, taking our best practices and developing a hospital where we operate more efficiently, reduce duplication and utilize the latest technological advancements for the benefit of our patients.”

“The Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital is a new kind of hospital for a new era in healthcare,” Toby Cosgrove, M.D., Chief Executive Officer and President of Cleveland Clinic.
Planned as a small, high-tech community hospital for lower acuity inpatient care, the new facility will take care of patients who are more likely to be discharged within a few days rather than a week or longer. The new hospital will work even more closely with patients to improve their experience and help expedite their hospital stay. Patients who will heal better at home will be discharged quickly and connected to homecare services for follow-up care.
Technology will be a driving force in the new facility. Although visually the hospital will look similar to other Cleveland Clinic facilities, Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital is being designed to leverage the latest in wireless capabilities and to serve as a test site to evaluate future advancements in patient care locally and world-wide. Currently, plans are underway to evaluate technology solutions for patient monitoring, patient self-service capabilities at the bedside, and radiofrequency identification with the goal to shorten hospital stays, improve outcomes, follow patients more closely after discharge and reduce the cost of hospitalization.
“The type of technology we are bringing to this new hospital will allow patients to stay connected with their caregivers during and after their hospitalization and improve our patient’s experience,” said John Costin, M.D., Chairman, Cleveland Clinic Lorain Institute. “We look forward to building on the success of our Richard E. Jacobs Health Center and bringing a new hospital to Lorain County so we can provide comprehensive care close to home.”

“The type of technology we are bringing to this new hospital will allow patients to stay connected with their caregivers during and after their hospitalization and improve our patient’s experience,” John Costin, M.D., Chairman, Cleveland Clinic Lorain Institute.
Services in the new hospital will be streamlined with a special emphasis on enhancing flexibility and reducing duplication. Pharmacy, imaging and lab services already in place at the Richard E. Jacob’s Health Center will be shared to reduce duplication and the footprint of the new hospital to lower costs. Food, laundry and other ancillary services will be shared with other west side Cleveland Clinic facilities to help streamline processes and reduce costs.
“We are excited to create a hospital with a new mindset as we design this facility to keep costs down and quality high,” said Brian Donley, M.D., Cleveland Clinic President of Community Hospitals/Family Health Centers and incoming Chief of Staff. “We plan to leverage our health system to reduce redundancy and ensure our patients are in the right place, at the right time for the right care.”
The new Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital will be the only Cleveland Clinic hospital connected directly to an established family health center. This creates a natural cohesion and connectivity of both outpatient and inpatient services.
New inpatient services will focus primarily on general medicine, general surgery, orthopedics, urology, ophthalmology and critical care medicine. Additional inpatient services will include cardiology, vascular medicine, gastroenterology, nephrology, and gynecology. More advanced care will be available to patients at Cleveland Clinic’s Fairview Hospital and main campus.

“We are excited to create a hospital with a new mindset as we design this facility to keep costs down and quality high,” Brian Donley, M.D., Cleveland Clinic President of Community Hospitals/Family Health Centers and incoming Chief of Staff.
Since the opening of the $93 million Richard E. Jacobs Family Health Center in December 2011 and the addition of emergency services in September 2012, the facility has grown to become Cleveland Clinic’s highest volume family health center. Within its first year, the health center welcomed more than 320,000 patient visits and performed more than 4,500 outpatient surgeries. It has grown to average 42,000 patient visits each month and the 24-hour emergency department sees an average of 1,800 patients each month.
As part of the construction, an additional 5,500 square feet of existing space will also be renovated to expand the center’s current emergency department, radiology, lab, surgery center and pharmacy.
The Richard E. Jacobs Health Center currently employs 475 full time physicians, nurses and support staff. The number of employees needed for the new Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital is still to be determined.
Work has already begun on the project with Gilbane, Inc. leading the new facility’s construction. Westlake Reed Leskowsky, a local firm in Cleveland designed the expansion project.
Cleveland Clinic currently has eight community hospitals and 16 family health centers in Northeast Ohio. Other Cleveland Clinic locations in Lorain County include the Lorain Family and Surgery Center on Cooper Foster Park Road, Elyria Family Health and Surgery Center at Chestnut Commons, Avon Lake Family Health Center on Walker Road and the Avon Medical Center on American Way.
About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S.News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey. More than 3,000 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 11,000 nurses represent 120 medical specialties and subspecialties. The Cleveland Clinic health system includes a main campus near downtown Cleveland, eight community hospitals, more than 75 Northern Ohio outpatient locations, including 16 full-service Family Health Centers, Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Cleveland Clinic Canada, and, scheduled to begin seeing patients in 2015, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. In 2012, there were 5.1 million outpatient visits throughout the Cleveland Clinic health system and 157,000 hospital admissions. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 130 countries. Visit Cleveland Clinic at www.clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at www.twitter.com/ClevelandClinic.