The Observation Deck

At the Meeting of the Whole last night, LHA Chairman, Tom Gable, said LHA is in negotiations with Thompson Hine (the City's lawyers) concerning a "Master Agreement". Council President Madigan mentioned Council is providing a "running list" of what it needs concerning the "LOI". Last week, Ms. Madigan made mention of the "Master Agreement" being under consideration.

Mr. Gable came to Council to report that the hospital was "struggling on a day to day basis with employees" since things are "unsettled and disruptive" and they "losing managers" After Council members pushed back on Gable's attempts to blame the taxpayer lawsuit and Council's delay in action for the "limbo" and personnel issues, Mr. Gable was forced to acknowledge that the premature announcement of the hospital's closing has caused damage to the hospital and its employees. Midway through Mr. Gabe's comments, a Lakewood hospital employee left the meeting in tears--she could not bear to hear more of what she believed to be Mr. Gable's false narrative of his report on "hospital operations". A doctor knowledgeable about hospital personnel matters also commented that Mr. Gable's comments were not accurate. So it seems that chairman Gable has been misinformed as to what is going on at the hospital or worse.

Before Council went back into another secret session, LHA's finance chair Ken Haber verified to Council that Lakewood Hospital made a profit in 2014. Mr. Haber reported last night to Council that the hospital has lost $1.9 million since the announced closing of Lakewood Hospital. Mr. Haber did not report the amounts of favorable prior year adjustments and investment income and gains that may have offset the April and May losses (totaling $1.4 million) he reported--nobody asked for those numbers.

Like at the Meeting of the Whole on May 18, 2015, Mr. Gable and Councilman Bullock again repeated questionable claims made by Lakewood Hospital Interim President, Shannon Ritchie, as to what is actually driving hospital losses. So it seems that Ritchie and the Clinic are continuing wage a disinformation campaign using certain LHA trustees as their pawns.

Mr. Gable, who also serves as a trustee for CCF said of the LOI/Master Agreement "This is an LHA initiative--the Clinic had nothing to do with it". Curiously, he also reported that all of the Clinic's other hospitals were experiencing the same trends as Lakewood.

So it seems a vote by Council on a Master Agreement will be forthcoming but the vote remains uncertain. What is certain is that if Council rejects the Master Agreement, there will be "accountability, liability and responsibility" (Gable's words on May 18th) on the part of LHA and the Clinic for the premature announcement of the hospital without prior Council approval. Losses are real--who and what is causing the losses is also real.

Over 35 supporters of Save Lakewood Hospital attended the meeting.
I'm proud to live in a city that is so actively engaged.

For me the biggest reveal was Haber said the hospital turned a PROFIT in 2014.
This runs completely counter to the "Doomsday" rhetoric from the Clinic.

I found Mr. Gable's comments about employee morale to be laughable.
There is a concerted PR effort from Team Summers to demonize the citizens of Lakewood for speaking up against this disastrous deal.
To quote M Buckley "good luck with that".

Brian Essi wrote: So it seems that chairman Gable has been misinformed as to what is going on at the hospital or worse.

Excellent work.

LHA tried to blame the drop in ER visits on the remodeled ER at Lutheran Hospital but made no mention of the 20,000 annual ER visits to the new Avon facility.

At one Council meeting Mr. Gable was asked about the transfer of Lakewood Hospital services to Avon and other areas. He said he was unaware of any transfer of services!

Last night when he was asked about Lakewood's rehab unit being transferred to Avon he said that it was not transferred and was still operating at Lakewood Hospital!

From the July 2014 minutes of the Board of Trustees:

Mr. Ritchie reported that more recently the Cleveland Clinic had signed an agreement with Select Medical which would manage Lakewood Hospital's Rehab Unit, and that through this joint venture Select Medical would also construct a 60-bed Rehab Hospital near the Avon Campus. Select Medical, a leader in rehabilitation services, currently managed 120 hospitals throughout the United States. Select was ranked 2nd by U.S. and World Reports in its category.

The agreement was slated to take effect on August 1, 2014 and the hospital would open in 2015. Lakewood Hospital employees will have the option of relocating to the hospital in Avon. A select number of caregivers are participating in the Select Medical hospital design. A general discussion followed including the negative impact of approximately $1.6 million to the hospital bottom line.

If the unit is still in Lakewood why would Lakewood Hospital employees have the option of relocating to the hospital in Avon?

If the unit is still in Lakewood how could it have a negative impact of $1.6 million on the hospitals bottom line?

I think the LHA is giving Council bad information.

The LHA and the Cleveland Clinic's premature announcement of the Hospitals closure has done a great deal of financial damage to the Hospital and City.

There was some talk about the changes in the medical industry by Mr. Juris. He seems to be unaware that the Clinic is building new hospitals in Avon, Twinsburg and Mentor.

He also seems completely unconcerned about the Clinics refusal to tell council exactly what services will be offered at the new Family Health Center.

He was also very contemptuous of Metro and Premiere Physicians.

I wonder, when did members of Council find out that Metro was willing to maintain a full service hospital and guarantee 1,100 Hospital employees their jobs with no reductions in pay?

Mayor Summers mentioned that the Mayor of Avon said he has no intention of cooperating with the City of Lakewood to lessen the financial burden of the relocation of Lakewood Hospital to Avon.

Why should they? They stole it fair and square!

"I wonder, when did members of Council find out that Metro was willing to maintain a full service hospital and guarantee 1,100 Hospital employees their jobs with no reductions in pay?"

At a "talk to Lakewood" session with the Mayor a couple weeks ago at the Beer Engine, Summers was pushed on this point after saying Metro's initial proposal came through in Sept/Oct, just a couple weeks prior to it's "sell by date" of 10/31/2014. When asked AGAIN when the very first proposal came back from Metro he said it was in May (if my memory serves). Regardless, it was months before the Oct. 31st deadline, not just one month or so. The council had this on their desks for months to consider it and they did nothing, which is why Metro withdrew the proposal.

And I see now Metro has made it clear they have no intention of becoming a part of this. Good job Mayor Summers, way to keep your options open!

That's how I understand it. Isn't it amazing how many hoops we have to jump through to get a straight answer from council or the CCF? Man!

I was also at the COW meeting last night. First of all, I counted 54 people total in the council conference room at one point. I believe cramming this many people into this room would violate the fire code, as all of the exits were blocked by bodies. There was not enough space in this tiny room to bring in chairs for even the Save Lakewood Hospital people who were elderly and/or disabled. I also found it rather humorous when Mary Louise walked over to the windows that don't open and asked if they opened. I then asked her something to the effect of "can City Hall not afford to air condition this room with all the taxes we pay"? We all know that keeping this room uncomfortable is part of their plan to try and keep the citizens that want to keep the hospital open from attending the meetings.

I had to choke back both my laughs and my anger as Mr. Haber and Mr. Gable tried to paint the hospital in as bleak of a position as they possibly could. What did they think was going to happen to revenue after almost all of the services and equipment have been removed from the hospital? They have basically left us with nothing more than an emergency department that can diagnose strep throat and put stitches in a cut. I know a couple that live several doors down from me. One has unfortunately passed on. When LFD came to her house one night, both Metro and Fairview ER's were full. Therefore, they had to drive her to St. John Westshore. This lady's husband had a heart attack several months ago and was taken to Lakewood Hospital. This gentleman sat in the emergency room for over an hour and a half until he could get transportation to Fairview.

I was also somewhat appalled, but not surprised by the behavior of Shawn Juris. He appeared to be rolling his eyes and heavily sighing throughout most of the meeting. Toward the end of the meeting, I recall Mr. Juris making what I felt were demeaning and belittling comments toward the citizens that are standing in their way of shutting down the hospital. This man disgusts me. I don't think he should have been put in his position in the first place.

On a more positive note, Councilwoman Marx expressed concern about the treatment of Lakewood Hospital employees. I recall Ms. Marx stating that she wanted CCF themselves to show up at a meeting, not just the LHA and LHF to give more information because she did not feel comfortable enough yet to make a decision. It seemed that Mary Louise Madigan was badgering Ms. Marx about her concerns. I recall Madigan reminding the council that they have to move forward.

When I locked eyes with the mayor, he quickly turned away. I feel that the mayor has a guilty conscience, or else I feel that he could look me in the eye.

A couple of council members that I thought wanted to save the hospital appeared last night to be hopping on the bandwagon with Madigan, LHA, and Summers.

After the meeting, I had a short conversation with two other people and Mr. Gable. I told him that my six friends that work at Lakewood Hospital were upset because the CCF has been harassing and threatening them. I asked him if he could ask CCF about this. I also asked him why he felt that Avon (pop. 21,000) and not Lakewood (pop. 51,000) needed a hospital. He informed me that residents in the Sandusky area would be coming to the new Avon hospital. I then asked how he could do this when he lives in Rocky River. He seemed to think this was humorous, as he started to chuckle. I then said that I felt those involved with this deal and the deal itself were corrupt. I could have been more professional when delivering my opinions to him. However, I was pretty well ticked-off after sitting through the meeting.

I think it's great that there are lots of us here that speak our minds on the Observation Deck. However, we need to step out of cyber-world and start showing up at meetings to let these people know that this is our city and our hospital and we are not going to take it anymore. In my opinion, the emperor's reign needs to end now.

I was also at the COW meeting last night. First of all, I counted 54 people total in the council conference room at one point. I believe cramming this many people into this room would violate the fire code, as all of the exits were blocked by bodies. There was not enough space in this tiny room to bring in chairs for even the Save Lakewood Hospital people who were elderly and/or disabled. I also found it rather humorous when Mary Louise walked over to the windows that don't open and asked if they opened. I then asked her something to the effect of "can City Hall not afford to air condition this room with all the taxes we pay"? We all know that keeping this room uncomfortable is part of their plan to try and keep the citizens that want to keep the hospital open from attending the meetings.

I had to choke back both my laughs and my anger as Mr. Haber and Mr. Gable tried to paint the hospital in as bleak of a position as they possibly could. What did they think was going to happen to revenue after almost all of the services and equipment have been removed from the hospital? They have basically left us with nothing more than an emergency department that can diagnose strep throat and put stitches in a cut. I know a couple that live several doors down from me. One has unfortunately passed on. When LFD came to her house one night, both Metro and Fairview ER's were full. Therefore, they had to drive her to St. John Westshore. This lady's husband had a heart attack several months ago and was taken to Lakewood Hospital. This gentleman sat in the emergency room for over an hour and a half until he could get transportation to Fairview.

I was also somewhat appalled, but not surprised by the behavior of Shawn Juris. He appeared to be rolling his eyes and heavily sighing throughout most of the meeting. Toward the end of the meeting, I recall Mr. Juris making what I felt were demeaning and belittling comments toward the citizens that are standing in their way of shutting down the hospital. This man disgusts me. I don't think he should have been put in his position in the first place. I also found it interesting that Mr. Litten was nowhere to be found at this meeting or any other council/COW meeting. It appears to me that since he was all for the LOI, why is he not publicly admitting this or admitting his involvement with the LHA?

On a more positive note, Councilwoman Marx expressed concern about the treatment of Lakewood Hospital employees. I recall Ms. Marx stating that she wanted CCF themselves to show up at a meeting, not just the LHA and LHF to give more information because she did not feel comfortable enough yet to make a decision. It seemed that Mary Louise Madigan was badgering Ms. Marx about her concerns. I recall Madigan reminding the council that they have to move forward.

When I locked eyes with the mayor, he quickly turned away. I feel that the mayor has a guilty conscience, or else I feel that he could look me in the eye.

A couple of council members that I thought wanted to save the hospital appeared last night to be hopping on the bandwagon with Madigan, LHA, and Summers.

After the meeting, I had a short conversation with two other people and Mr. Gable. I told him that my six friends that work at Lakewood Hospital were upset because the CCF has been harassing and threatening them. I asked him if he could ask CCF about this. I also asked him why he felt that Avon (pop. 21,000) and not Lakewood (pop. 51,000) needed a hospital. He informed me that residents in the Sandusky area would be coming to the new Avon hospital. I then asked how he could do this when he lives in Rocky River. He seemed to think this was humorous, as he started to chuckle. I then said that I felt those involved with this deal and the deal itself were corrupt. I could have been more professional when delivering my opinions to him. However, I was pretty well ticked-off after sitting through the meeting.

I think it's great that there are lots of us here that speak our minds on the Observation Deck. However, we need to step out of cyber-world and start showing up at meetings to let these people know that this is our city and our hospital and we are not going to take it anymore. In my opinion, the emperor's reign needs to end now.

One of the rhetorical tricks used by opponents of Lakewood Hospital is to refer to the "100 year old Hospital". Wow! That's really old!.

The Plain Dealer uses the phrase a lot.

Lutheran Hospital was founded in 1896 which makes it around 120 years old. Has anyone seen any reference to Lutheran Hospital as the " 120 year old hospital"?

For the record from US news:

Hospital A

The hospital had 7,111 admissions in the latest year for which data are available. It performed 1,888 annual inpatient and 3,603 outpatient surgeries. Its emergency room had 26,045 visits

Hospital B

Survey data for the latest year available shows that 35,180 patients visited the hospital's emergency room. The hospital had a total of 8,647 admissions. Its physicians performed 2,131 inpatient and 3,221 outpatient surgeries.

Which hospital is the Clinic closing?