Cleveland Clinic and Other Doctors Sign Open Letter Condemning Immigration Ban

CLEVELAND, OH - An open letter from medical professionals to Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove asks Cosgrove to condemn President Trump's Immigration Ban and move a clinic fundraiser out of a Trump hotel.

The letter has been signed by more than 1,200 people, including medical students, residents, physicians and other healthcare professionals. The letter says the ban has impacted one clinic doctor and nine patients that are scheduled to receive care at the clinic.

"The Cleveland Clinic has a well-earned reputation as a global pioneer in healthcare, with the power to be a leader in healthcare advocacy and to shape public policy," the letter states.

After outlining the stakes and the ways they believe Cosgrove and the Clinic have aided Trump and the ban, the letter and its signees make these requests of the Cleveland Clinic CEO:

Reschedule your fundraiser to a location that does not directly contribute to the financial growth of an individual who has imposed substantial barriers to your employees in providing medical care and to your patients from receiving that care.

Release a public statement:

a. condemning Trump’s immigration ban
b. pledging to utilize the full breadth and depth of your power as a world renowned leader in medicine to protect your employees from deportation and to allow your patients to continue to receive care
c. emphasizing the fact that the Cleveland Clinic values diversity and relies on immigrants to provide medical care.

The fundraiser is the “Reflections of Versailles: A Night in the Hall of Mirrors,” which is set for a Trump resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Cleveland Clinic spokeswoman Eileen Sheil told the Washington Post that the hospital system is “fully committed to the safe return of our employee who was denied entry into the United States. We are incredibly proud of our highly diverse workforce and patient population, a core part of our culture and history. Please know that the sole purpose of our event in Florida is to raise funds for important research ... The event has been held there for years, well before the election.”

News on Friday suggests that initial estimates that about 100 people had been impacted by the Immigration Ban were wildly inaccurate. Patch's Marc Torrence reports that government attorneys told a Virginia court on Friday that more than 100,000 visas have been revoked as a result of Trump's executive order on immigration, according to multiple reports from inside the courtroom.

Cosgrove is also one of 16 CEOS on the president's 'Strategic and Policy Forum' board. "I applaud his efforts to bring together leaders across industries to gain insight that will assist the new President in making important decisions that will impact every American. I am deeply committed and take this role very seriously,” Cosgrove said in a statement released by the clinic at the time.

You can read the full letter here.

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