MetroHealth Opening Hospital In Cleveland Heights

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — The MetroHealth System announced on Tuesday that it would convert its offices at 10 Severance Circle in Cleveland Heights to a community hospital. Twelve single-patient occupancy rooms will be added to the building. The building already has an emergency department and lab services.

The hospital system said construction on the facility will be completed by the end of 2017, with facilities opening to patients by January 2018. The goal for MetroHealth is to ensure that 80 percent of Cuyahoga County residents are a 15-minute drive or less from the nearest MetroHealth hospital.

"We are so pleased to see MetroHealth expanding service in Cleveland Heights,” said Tanisha R. Briley, city manager of Cleveland Heights, in a statement. “This investment will not only provide new health care options for our residents and the surrounding communities, it will also create economic benefits in a high priority area for redevelopment in our city."

The Cleveland Heights hospital was previously a HealthSpan urgent care site, MetroHealth said in a statement. In 2015, MetroHealth entered an agreement with HealthSpan to convert the Cleveland Heights site, and a Parma location, to MetroHealth facilities.

The Cleveland Heights emergency department opened in February 2016. Medical offices opened at the site in April 2016.

“Patients and their families want to be as close to home as possible when it comes to receiving medical care, especially when it comes to hospitalization. The support the patients receive from their friends and family in a familiar setting, helps their recuperation,” said Dr. Akram Boutros, president and CEO of MetroHealth, in a statement.

The former HealthSpan facility in Parma will also be converted into a community hospital, under the same timeframe as the Cleveland Heights facility.

MetroHealth is also upgrading its main campus, with plans to build a new 12-story tower. MetroHealth said it wants to expand its presence in local communities to keep patient care close to home.

Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch