MEDINA: Back in 2009, Medina’s community hospital needed a lifeline.
Faced with mounting industry pressures and competition from bigger hospitals in Akron and Cleveland, Medina Hospital’s inpatient admissions were shrinking while its financial losses were growing.
Five years and $65 million in facility upgrades later, Medina Hospital leaders say the 157-bed community hospital has benefited tremendously from being purchased by the Cleveland Clinic.
Since being acquired, Medina Hospital has averaged about 90 or more hospitalized patients each day, an increase from about 50 to 60 five years ago, according to Dr. Thomas L. Tulisiak, a longtime Medina-area physician and president of Medina Hospital since 2011.
Before the affiliation, he said, about 65 percent of Medina County residents who needed hospital care were leaving the county for services. Today, after the addition of new services and expansion of existing ones, only about 40 percent go to facilities outside the county.
Orthopedic surgeries alone spiked from fewer than 500 in 2009 to more than 1,500 last year.
Millions of dollars of upgrades have occurred throughout the campus, including renovations in surgical suites, cardiac rehabilitation, the emergency department and the surgery waiting area.
New construction has included an orthopedic and spine unit, an infusion suite for cancer patients and an outpatient pharmacy in the mail lobby, as well as a satellite emergency department that recently opened in Brunswick.
A new wound care center also is under construction, along with two new operating rooms.
“We’ve been able to bring these additional services to our community so patients can stay in the community,” Tulisiak said. “It has been a wonderful relationship for the hospital and the community.”
Familiar trend
Medina Hospital recently celebrated its 70th birthday and the fifth anniversary of joining the Cleveland Clinic’s network of community hospitals.
“We were looking for ways to elevate care in Medina County,” said Medina Hospital board chair Pam Miller, who has served on the board for 26 years.
It’s a familiar industry trend that has continued in recent years.
Most recently, Akron General Health System finalized a deal last week to sell an undisclosed minority ownership stake to the Cleveland Clinic for $100 million. The six-year agreement gives the Cleveland Clinic the option to acquire Akron General after a year.
With their Cleveland Clinic affiliations, Akron General and Medina Hospital get the backing of a massive health system with $6.5 billion in annual operating revenue and a strong national reputation for patient care.
The Cleveland Clinic doesn’t report individual financial performance information from its eight Northeast Ohio community hospitals.
However, a hospital spokesperson said Medina’s overall financial performance has improved each year since the affiliation in 2009. Revenues exceeded expenses in 2012 and so far in 2014.
The improvement “is a combination of efficiencies, controlling expenses and increasing volumes,” Tulisiak said.
Community support
Bob Rodgers, 73, of Wadsworth, has been going to Medina Hospital whenever he needs hospital care for more than 20 years.
Since the hospital was acquired by the Cleveland Clinic, he’s noticed a lot of changes.
“They did a lot of fixing up,” he said. “It became a brighter-looking hospital.”
He said he also believes “their focus on the patient is much greater.
“When I went in Sunday morning, I had a tremendous amount of pain,” he said. “Their first priority was to control my pain — and that’s what they did.”
Medina Hospital’s relationship with the Cleveland Clinic has been good for the community, Medina Mayor Dennis Hanwell said.
Hanwell, who was the city’s police chief when the affiliation talks began, said he initially was concerned whether the hospital would maintain a close relationship with the city after being acquired by the Cleveland Clinic.
But in recent years, the hospital increased its community support, he said. With the Cleveland Clinic’s backing, Medina Hospital has provided AEDS for all police cars and City Hall, additional training and equipment for police officers and several community education and wellness promotion programs.
“It’s really, truly been a blessing for us,” he said.
The hospital has remained among Medina’s largest employees, with about 800 workers.
Joining a larger system has enabled Medina Hospital to get access to better equipment, including laptops in all its ambulances, Mark Phillips, a Medina Hospital employee for 39 years who serves as director of the hospital’s Life Support Team. The program provides emergency medical services for Medina and Medina and Montville townships.
“It’s gone very well,” he said of the affiliation. “I can’t say there’s been a downside to it.”
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Powell on Twitter at twitter.com/CherylPowellABJ.