A Year of Growth at Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic in Florida has seen many changes this year. Some have been internal and not visible to the naked eye. Others are more demonstrable and attest to Cleveland Clinic’s commitment to South Florida. Altogether these changes herald a new chapter in the nearly 20-year history of Cleveland Clinic in Florida.

In October 2006, Cleveland Clinic became the sole owner of our Weston campus, through the purchase of Tenet Healthcare Corp.’s interest in the onsite hospital facility. Much of 2007 has been focused on uniting the hospital and outpatient clinic to fully realize Cleveland Clinic’s unique model of medicine, which emphasizes patient care supported by research and education. As a wholly integrated medical campus, we have streamlined operations, strengthened employee relations, and continued to make sure patients come first.

Cleveland Clinic’s growth in Florida in 2007 included the addition of 28 staff physicians, bringing our team of specialists to more than 120. This represents a significant influx of experience and expertise that we can offer our patients. It is also a measurable step toward our goal of growing our multi-specialty group practice to more than 165 staff physicians by 2011.

Cleveland Clinic’s unique model of medicine continues to attract highly respected teaching physicians, which supports growth in our fellowship and residency programs. As a result, Cleveland Clinic remains a leading provider of graduate medical education in the region and one of the few healthcare organizations to have earned institutional accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Perhaps the most outward display of Cleveland Clinic’s growth in Florida this year is the opening of a satellite office in West Palm Beach. Our present 4,000-square-foot clinic will be relocated to a permanent, more comprehensive 25,000-square-foot facility that will open in mid 2008. The current facility includes a primary care physician and select specialists, as well as support staff, where patients can experience a coordinated approach with our medical campus in Weston.

While internally we acknowledge and reward all the achievements of our staff over the past year, it is always gratifying to be recognized by our peers for good work. Here are just a few of the most notable recognitions Cleveland Clinic in Florida has garnered in 2007.

Cleveland Clinic’s Bariatric and Metabolic Institute became the first hospital-based weight-loss surgery program in Florida to earn level 1A accreditation from the Bariatric Surgery Center Network Accreditation Program of the American College of Surgeons. In addition, the Institute received accreditation as a Center of Excellence by the Surgical Review Corporation of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, making it one of just a few centers in the country earning dual accreditation.

Cleveland Clinic in Florida was just named one of the nation’s top 100 cardiovascular hospitals by Thomson Healthcare (formerly Solucient) in their annual “100 Top Hospitals” rankings.

Cleveland Clinic in Florida also was honored to be just one of three hospitals in Florida to receive the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines–Coronary Artery Disease Annual and Sustained Performance Achievement Award. In addition, Cleveland Clinic received the American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines–Stroke Care Annual Performance Achievement Award, and the Get With The Guidelines – Heart Failure Initial and Annual Achievement Award from the AHA. Our facility was one of only 12 hospitals nationally to be recognized by the AHA in all three modules of their Get With The GuidelinesSM program.

As CEO of Cleveland Clinic in Florida, a world-renowned academic medical center, I am proud of all that we have achieved together. I look forward to working with my colleagues to continue our expansion in the year ahead, both internally and throughout the community, and above all, to meet the growing healthcare needs of patients in South Florida.