Lakewood Hospital To Fund New Avon Cleveland Clinic Campus

[Bill Call]

The Cleveland Clinic is using its substantial political clout in support of a new Avon I-90 interchange. Construction of the interchange would allow the Clinic to construct a new medical campus in Lorain County. See:

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.s ... oga&coll=2

Where will the Clinic get the money for that Campus? If the clinic is such a money losing operation where does it find the funds to expand into Westlake, Strongsville and Avon?

Much of it comes from the profits generated by Lakewood Hospital. Specifically the City of Lakewood's subsidy of the Clinics rent.

Is the current rent paid to the City a fair market rate for a facility that generates hundreds of millions of dollars a year in revenue?

Consider this:

The new Walgreens on Madison cost about $5 million dollars to build. The debt service and property taxes will cost $600,000 per year.

Brendan O'Neils in Westlake just closed because the owners of the building found someone willing to pay $20,000 PER MONTH in rent. $240,000 to rent 2 thousand square foot of restaurant spaces!

And yet we are told that asking even $3 million a year for rent will put the hospital out of business.

There has been some discussion on this site regarding revenue enhancing ideas. Perhaps the City should consider charging the Clinic the $10 million dollars a year the hospital is worth.At a minimum the City should fund a study to determine the true market value for use of the hospital.

The Clinic should stop pretending to be a good corporate citizen and put its money where its mouth is.