Northeast Ohio is known worldwide for its excellent hospitals, and the Cleveland Clinic is the main reason why. According to U.S. News and World Report, it is the 4th best hospital in the United States and the #1 hospital for Cardiology and Heart Surgery. People travel to Cleveland from around the world for its world-class health care.
The Clinic is the largest employer in Cleveland and the 2nd-largest in Ohio. Needless to say, they are a major part of the Northeast Ohio economy. In fact, one study shows that the clinic is responsible for 8% of the region’s economic output.
Barack Obama knows that the Clinic is special, too. In 2009, he visited and lauded praise on the hospital system, saying that they “do some pretty smart things” to maintain high quality care while also innovating to keep costs low.
Ironically, the Cleveland Clinic is now being threatened by Obama’s signature policy. Citing Obamacare as the primary reason, the Clinic announced that mass layoffs in the thousands are coming.
(Reuters) – The world-renowned Cleveland Clinic said on Wednesday it would cut jobs and slash five to six percent of its $6 billion annual budget to prepare for President Barack Obama’s health reforms.
The clinic, which has treated celebrities and world leaders such as musician Lou Reed, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and former Olympic gold medal skater Scott Hamilton, did not say how many of its 44,000 employees would be laid off. But a spokeswoman said that $330 million would be cut from its annual budget.
“Some of the initiatives include offering early retirement to 3,000 eligible employees, reducing operational costs, stricter review of filling vacant positions, and lastly workforce reductions,” said Eileen Sheil, Executive Director of Corporate Communications for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. [emphasis added]
Expect more hospital systems to follow suit as the law goes into full effect. Everything that Republicans warned would happen as a result of Obamacare is coming to fruition, and the law’s popularity is falling to new lows as people are waking up to the reality. The only solution is full repeal, which is only going to happen by retaking the Senate and the White House.