Cleveland Clinic Akron General formerly known as Akron General Medical Center, and commonly known as Akron Gen, is a nationally ranked, 511-bed non-profit, teaching hospital located in Akron, Ohio.[1] Cleveland Clinic Akron General is a part of the Cleveland Clinic Health System. As the hospital is a teaching hospital, it is affiliated with the Northeast Ohio Medical University and the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.[2] The hospital is also an American College of Surgeons verified Level I Trauma Center, the one of two in the region and one of 11 in Ohio.[3] Additionally, the hospital has a rooftop helipad to handle the emergent transport of critical patients to and from the hospital.[4]
History
On February 20, 1914, the articles of incorporation were filed for the newly established Peoples Hospital Company.[5] On March 1, 1915, the new hospital opened on West Cedar Street with 125-beds, named the Peoples Hospital. Later in 1926, Peoples Hospital became a nonprofit to better serve the underserved in Akron.[6]
In 1954 the hospital was renamed from the Peoples Hospital to Akron General Hospital, then in 1971 renamed to Akron General Medical Center.[6]
From 1971 to 1975 renovations occurred at Akron General Hospital which added physician offices, a coronary care unit, new patient rooms, a hemodialysis unit, new administration offices, an expanded radiation therapy unit, new coronary stress labs, and a 476-space parking deck.[7]
In 2008 Akron General partnered with Akron Children's Hospital to open a new pediatric and adult emergency department at its satellite campus in Bath, Ohio. The new emergency department consists of 17,000-square-feet of space and includes 18 emergency beds. Care for adults is provided from doctors from Akron General while pediatric cases are handled by Akron Children's Hospital.[8][9]
In 2013 it was announced that they had signed a non-binding letter of intent would be purchased by a joint venture of the for-profit Nashville based, Community Health Systems and Cleveland Clinic. The purchase would have turned Akron General into a for-profit hospital.[10] In 2014 hospital administration announced that they were no longer in talks with Community Health Systems or Cleveland Clinic due to fundamental disagreements.[11]
In 2014 the nationally ranked health system, Cleveland Clinic invested $100 million into Akron General Medical Center and became a minority owner of the hospital. Additionally, the deal allowed the Cleveland Clinic to take over the hospital after a year, and Cleveland Clinic was allowed to choose three board members on Akron Gen's board.[12]
In 2015 Cleveland Clinic decided to take over the hospital and Akron General officially became a part of Cleveland Clinic after the Ohio Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission both approved the merger.[13] Cleveland Clinic would deal with Akron General's $150 million debt and would make $30 million in improvements to the hospital including a new emergency department and a more modern electronic health record system.[14] The merger totaled up to be one of Ohio's largest health-related mergers in recent history.[15] Additionally, it was later announced that the merger prevented Akron General from going bankrupt.[16]
In 2018 the hospital opened up a new building containing an emergency department containing 60 treatment rooms, a 19-bed observation unit, and administrative offices. The project cost the hospital $49.3 million and added 67,000-square-feet of space, nearly tripling the size of the previous emergency department. A rooftop helipad is located on top of the new building, and a second floor bridge connects the building to the rest of the main hospital campus.[17][18]
^ ab"AKRON GENERAL HOSPITAL". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University. 2018-05-11. Archived from the original on 2019-08-17. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
