Cleveland Clinic's Toby Cosgrove Turns Down VA Job

CLEVELAND, OH - Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove will remain in his current position, after he allegedly told President-elect Donald Trump that he would not accept an offer to head up the Department of Veterans Affair.

Cosgrove withdrew his name from consideration due to commitments to the Cleveland Clinic. He was reportedly the Trump team's number one candidate for the job. The Department of Veterans Affairs is one of the Trump team's top priorities.

Given the importance of the job to the transition team, Cosgrove reportedly spent a great deal of time weighing his decision. However, he felt he could not abandon his commitments to the Clinic.

The VA has been mired in controversy since 2014 when multiple investigations into the department found extraordinary wait times for patients. The VA oversees healthcare for 20 million American veterans.

Cosgrove is already serving on Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum, a 16-member team of CEOs and other business leaders. That team is led by Stephen A. Schwarzman, Blackstone CEO.

Cosgrove joined the hospital system in 1975 and has led the Clinic since 2003. In his role, he oversees nine regional hospitals, 21 family health and ambulatory surgery centers, Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Cleveland Clinic Toronto, and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.

You can watch a video of Cosgrove talking about the Clinic's healthcare efforts below:

Photo from YouTube screenshot