The Cleveland Clinic is a multispecialty academic hospital center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. With more than 4,450 beds, Cleveland Clinic is one of the largest and most respected health systems nationally and internationally. The Cleveland Clinic's main campus consists of 41 buildings on 160 acres. It also operates 18 family health and ambulatory surgery centers in surrounding communities. In addition, Cleveland Clinic has affiliated facilities in Florida, Nevada, Canada, and Abu Dhabi.
The Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 in Cleveland, Ohio by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. The founders wanted to form a group practice in which individual members would share clinical expertise and specialization and would dedicate themselves to the education of future medical practitioners. It would also be a place where innovations in medical procedures and practices would be encouraged through basic and applied research activities. The four founders also envisioned a corporate structure that would support their vision. It involved the oversight and direction by a separate board of community trustees in matters unrelated to patient and medical practice issues.
“Patients First” is the guiding principle of Cleveland Clinic. It declares the primacy of patient care, comfort and communication in every activity they undertake. It affirms the importance of research and education for the improvement of patient care. “Patients First” also demands a relentless focus on measurable quality. By setting standards, collecting data, and analysing results, Cleveland Clinic puts patients first through improved outcomes and better service, providing a healthier future for all. Cleveland Clinic operates as an integrated and cooperative group practice, as an academic medical center and as an active research institute.
Attentiveness to innovative research, education, and high quality treatment is of key importance. The Cleveland Clinic most recently recorded 5.9 million total visits, serving some of the highest acuity patients who come from across the United States and 147 countries around the world. As one of the largest and most respected hospitals in the country, Cleveland Clinic is consistently named as one of the nation’s best hospitals in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” survey, with a heart and surgery program that has been ranked No. 1 each year since 1995.
Cleveland Clinic has a distinctive culture, shaped by its focus on the patient, its commitment to quality care and innovation, and its physician-led practices. It has an egalitarian culture with 3,200 physicians and scientists on staff, representing 120 specialties and subspecialties. From 1921 to the present, the Cleveland Clinic has always employed and salaried its physicians and Ph.D. scientific investigators without incentive compensation. Specialization and sub-specialization have characterized the practice and growth of the Cleveland Clinic, while its commitment to the integration of research and education into a dynamic healthcare practice has allowed Cleveland Clinic and its physicians and researchers to make many important contributions to the practice of medicine over the years.
