WhatUp

From this past Sunday, the CCF P-building garage demolition:

There was a plan to redevelop the Lake East Hospital site 1 block South of the square, and another to build on the now-closed Giant Eagle parking lot that swallowed a whole side of the main street decades ago, but the plans have existed for years, covid would have slowed them down, and property values remain so low in the area that the construction didn't seem profitable. The more recent plan to build hundreds of single family homes across the Grand River on what is now a forest and closed airport had more traction, and although I hate everything about that plan, maybe more population in the area would be enough to push the downtown projects over the last hurdle. If they are even still being pursued?

So Channel 19, WOIO and WUAB and WTCL might be moving from Reserve Square out to Independence? Why would anyone want to move a newsroom out of a downtown way out to the edge of suburbia?

I'm not an expert, but yes, many health systems are collapsing (dying the slow death of bankruptcy) and thankfully being absorbed. In the past 6ish years, Cleveland Clinic acquired Indian River health system and Martin Health in Florida, Akron General and Union Hospital. UH got Lake Health system, St. Vincent, and Aultman Hospital, but that hasn't been finalized yet? This is happening all over the US, giving hospital systems better buying and negotiating power with vendors, manufacturers and insurance. The same thing is happening with senior care facilities. These are slowly becoming monopolies similar to what is happening with mobile home parks Right now, this is a battle between US hospital systems and insurance companies, and this is one of the strategies playing out. The US is the most expensive developed country to receive healthcare or have a baby, and while we may have access to excellent care, the cost is pricing some out of the right of healthcare. Just look at social media of people who need an ambulance pleading for help, but also begging to not have EMS arrive because they can't afford a $4000 2 mile trip to a hospital. Steering this conversation back to St. Vincent, the bottom question is: Why go there? it is not known for being amazing at any specialty, or achieving better patient outcomes, or being cheaper. It is simply a decent hospital in a market dominated by 4 major systems that just outperform smaller hospital systems. If you have cancer, go to CCF or UH. If you are critically wounded, Metro has the Trauma 1 ER, If your baby is sick, UH Rainbow is here for you. If you're a veteran, we have a big VA hospital a few miles away. The geography to downtown doesn't bring in patients either due to what I just spelled out above. We have a choice in healthcare in Northeast Ohio, and why would anyone choose to go to St. Vincent? Therefore, the hospital was losing money and could track it's future and needed to make a change before it was too far down the rout of no return. Downtown doesn't need 2 hospitals that close (Lutheran is just across the bridge) I haven't heard any specifics on the fate of St. Vincent, Richmond and Bedford hospitals structures, only that they will continue to expand outpatient care and that they will no longer contain ERs or any inpatient care. It's not just a traveling nurse pandemic, many technical roles are suffering the same staffing situation. (radiology, pharmacy, surgical techs) If you want to put an end to travel healthcare employees, pay your staff better. The pay for traveling healthcare workers can be double what 20 year on the job staff are earning. You get housing and food stipends, and get to travel around the US with health insurance similar to what you may have had. I personally worked with over 30 hospital employees that started traveling out of Ohio and love it and should be able to retire early. Healthcare created it's own mess when it comes to staffing. Track the pay of non-physician staff over 40 years vs. surgeons, MDs and Pharmacists and you will see the wage gaps moving apart. Autlman Hospital was paying ICU nurses double time and a $50 Amazon gift card for every extra shift they covered during the pandemic, and they still couldn't staff their hospital... what does that tell you? Lakehealth was nearly bankrupt for years, and tore down Lake East hospital (had to be done) and built Tripoint hospital in the middle of nowhere. A hospital designed without Network infrastructure or an inpatient or outpatient pharmacy... How are patient's going to survive without any meds. The level of negligence on the part of the board of directors at that time should have yielded a different result. Look into nearly every small health system and you will see the same crippling issues developing that a larger hospital system can just absorb and move on with. But obviously, the main golden ticket to success, is to be non-profit! St Vincent is adapting to it's patients needs in the most economical way that it can. It is also leaving the door open to whatever the future may bring, so the story is not over yet. This is just the next chapter. I don't like the outcome either, but we will just have to sit back and see how this one plays out.

All UH employees received this email yesterday: Supporting the Transition of St. Vincent Charity Medical Center A Message for UH Caregivers from Cliff A. Megerian, MD, FACS, UH Chief Executive Officer; Jane and Henry Meyer Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Chair St. Vincent Charity Medical Center has a long legacy of caring for the people of Greater Cleveland. We have collaborated with them on numerous community health issues, the most prominent being our response to the opioid pandemic and its devastating effects on individuals, families and the community. We partnered with the Sisters of Charity on the operation of St. John Medical Center and its eventual transition to University Hospitals. In the wake of an evolving health care landscape, St. Vincent is evolving as well. They are transitioning away from inpatient care to concentrate on ambulatory services. We were honored when leaders for St. Vincent came to us with their plans and requested our support in three key areas: · Inpatient care – St. Vincent patients will be welcome at UH and other local hospitals, and we are committed to providing them with the highest-quality, compassionate care. · Graduate Medical Education – UH has a place for every St. Vincent resident at our nationally renowned academic medical center, UH St. John and UH Geauga medical centers. We have worked closely with St. Vincent, accrediting bodies and our faculty to make their move as seamless as possible when they choose to transfer to UH. · Caregivers – UH will offer opportunities for many St. Vincent caregivers to continue their careers with an organization that respects and appreciates their service. Members of our HR team will be on site at St. Vincent all of next week to discuss the advantages of joining UH and applying for open positions. As an enticement, we will be bridging seniority for St. Vincent caregivers if they join UH before year end. It is advantageous for us to recruit these experienced caregivers. In its new form, St. Vincent will remain an important and well-respected member of our health care community. We wish them the best as they continue their healing mission. At the same time, we welcome those St. Vincent residents and caregivers who will bolster our staff and make UH stronger. The transformation of St. Vincent is yet another indication of the forces of change on health care. Guided by a new strategic plan developed last year, UH is moving proactively to meet the difficult challenges ahead, which include a lengthening workforce shortage, rising inflation and supply chain issues. With your steadfast support for our patients and mission, I am confident that we will advance our goal to be the most trusted health care partner in Northeast Ohio.

What could be the potential cost of demolition and site remediation? wouldn't it surpass the potential sale price afterward? That leads me to believe property taxes and future potential legal actions are the bigger picture. Could they donate the entire property for tax benefit and let someone else save the structures or remediate the site? Our tax dollars have been spent on worse. donate to non-profit, sell to land bank, use brownfield and federal dollars to remediate, sell to or partner with developer? I obviously don't know the extent of any industrial contamination, but this is one of the most historically significant industrial sites in Northern Ohio, and the fact that it still exists in 2022 is a feat in itself. I learned the history of this site 10+ years ago and have been waiting for it to be repurposed along with a few other fascinating building in that industrial neighborhood. If contamination hasn't seeped into the soil on site, I don't think the levels in the structures could be so high as to abandon hope for saving the structures. I have seen enough brownfield remediation success stories to question this situation. But yea, mercury is no joke, and a 7 acre clean urban site ready for a new use could bring jobs and vitality in excess to saving what's there. It just wouldn't feel as special.

They set dates for the event ( July 12-21, 2024 ), so many news outlets carried the story. Here are a few: Cleveland Sports Commission Crain's article - Pan-American Masters Games set dates for 2024 event in Cleveland Channel 3 - Pan-American Masters Games coming to Cleveland in 2024: 'Largest international gathering in city's history' cle.com - Pan-American Masters Games choose Cleveland as 1st U.S. competition site I look forward to seeing how this event comes together and I can't wait to watch 😁

I'm not a demolition expert, but do they usually demolish interiors if the entire building is coming down? They started interior demolition on the inside of the second floor of the old Sears building fronting Carnegie within the past few weeks, but that was newishly remodeled, so I can't imagine there was an abatement issue that caused this, so why tear out if not to remodel? sorry the pic isn't that great (corner of Carnegie and E86th) those bay windows had also been carboarded up from the inside until recently. The space in that corner was set up to train students for mock codes in a hospital setting so that debris is recent. For reference, that entire floor was finished office space and looked like this: this is the opposite side of that same room 2 years ago

There are also species of clover that provide great biodiversity and almost never need to be cut, but more cut back to keep in an area, still less maintenance than the grasses they currently plant.

Posted on 7/12/2022: "Cleveland Clinic Receives Ohio EPA Grant Money to Install Electric Vehicle Charging Stations at 22 Locations throughout Northeast Ohio" "The Ohio EPA offered a one-time $3.25 million grant in 2020 to support the installation of electric vehicle charging stations in 26 Ohio counties through resources from the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund. " "The Ohio EPA selected 22 of the 40 Cleveland Clinic sites that best met grant criteria to receive up to 62 ports/124 electric vehicle charging spaces last year." The Clinic currently has 14 total charging spaces.

Yes, and this would be years in the future and built for the future's future to enjoy. How many more residents will be added within walking distance in just the 2 Erieview apartment conversions alone... Can they build a mound closer to the North end with short solstice steps to enjoy the lake? 10 to 20 feet of hill is enough to build steps and a wind buffer without sacrificing the view from most of the park. But the evergreen trees would also help, and keep some color in the winter. And does this mean that the Hulett monument/statue proposal isn't being pursued anymore?

I heard that Aultman Hospital will be formally joining UH over the next 2 years. I heard this from an Aultman Hospital director. Back in December 2020, AultCare members could see UH PCPs, so I guess it was only a matter of time.

Today: Fills a gap:

Today:

Midway Mall developer lays out plan, expects five-year turnaround The Chronicle-Telegram "Whitfield first revealed the plan in a Feb. 28 interview with The Chronicle-Telegram to transition the mall into a health and wellness and industrial innovation park with plans for the Cleveland Clinic to become the first tenant in a 50,000-square-foot medical office building." The mall has over 900,000 square feet and plan is to accommodate around 10 commercial tenants in around 700,000 square feet, with one being the CCF. Zoning was approved back on 3/16: CITY COUNCIL APPROVES ZONING OVERLAY CHANGE TO EXPEDITE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND JOB GROWTH AT MIDWAY MALL and a rendering:

I tried zooming in, but my phone isn't that great with the rain, so in this expanse, there is the Signet Foundry development in the center, at far left you can just see Metrohealth, and at far right is some new infill housing along Chester:

From just now, you can see the progress on Lumos in the center and peaking just over the CCF parking garage is the large roof of Addis View?

Since the Cleveland Clinic University Circle thread is still locked, I will post these here. Feel free to move them and explain to me what exactly this construction is? (also a pic of the finished Biorepository) This was the medical library, the above pic is the back of the building, the below pic was the main entrance on the 3rd floor of the Learner building And my favorite part:

Today from the 100th street parking garage: And I'll throw in a quick pic of the neighbors:

Mentor Hospital as of last week:

Top of the Hill from the 11th floor of the Clinic today: I know the picture is a little bad trying to zoom through thick tinted glass, but I love the density from this angle. It also shows off one of the city's only green roof parking structures complete with a walking track and more trees than you can shake a stick at 😄

I don't want to spam with pics from 2 days in a row, but is was a nicer day with different vantage points, so enjoy: and my phone doesn't zoom through tinted triple-pane glass very well, but dirt is moving!

From today: