From Today's Crain's, we see the Cleveland Clinic continuing to dominate local news and the world healthcare economy as they attract to this area $5 million in state funding, contributing to a $300 million development budget for a one million square foot project building the world's largest and leading heart center, resulting in 5,000 local jobs and a $1.2 billion annual impact on our economy. At the Cleveland City Club, on January 21, 2005, new Clinic CEO "Toby" Cosgrove laid out his vision for the future of the Clinic, and the Heart Center is an exciting part of their plan for NEO. Read notes from the City Club and related insight to appreciate the scope of opportunties offered ahead!

By SHANNON MORTLAND
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The Cleveland Clinic will receive $5 million from the state of Ohio to aid in the construction of its new heart center on Euclid Avenue.

The $5 million gift is the largest an Ohio hospital will receive out of the state’s new construction budget.

“In crafting this bill, we have worked hard to place the highest priority on those community projects that create jobs and enhance our economy,� Gov. Bob Taft said in a statement.

Dr. Delos “Toby� Cosgrove said in a statement that he is grateful for the state’s support of the Clinic.

“Our new heart center not only will allow us to continue to provide world-class care, it also will further our commitment to grow Northeast Ohio’s economy through research, innovation and expansion,� he said.

Construction on the Clinic’s new $300 million heart center already has begun, and the building is expected to open in 2008. The 1 million-square-foot structure will serve as the new entryway to the Cleveland Clinic campus.

The heart center’s hospital tower will house 288 hospital beds, and its pavilion will be home to 115 exam rooms and offices for 170 physicians. In addition, the heart center’s technology building will have up to 16 operating rooms, a 60-bed surgical intensive care unit, labs, and units dedicated to same-day hospital procedures, coronary care and chronic heart failure.

The new heart center will employ 5,000 and is projected to pump $1.2 billion annually into the local economy.