Cleveland Clinic expanding reach
Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston is expanding north into the so-called Treasure Coast region.
Thirty years after opening its first Florida facility in Fort Lauderdale, Cleveland Clinic announced it signed an agreement to absorb Martin Health System and invest at least $500 million in the company over five years.
It also announced an 18-month effort to take over Indian River Medical Center in Vero Beach neared its conclusion with approval votes Wednesday by the center’s Board of Directors and the Indian River County Hospital District Board of Trustees.
Terms of that deal call for Cleveland Clinic to invest $250 million in the medical center over 10 years and to take over the district’s responsibilities to provide indigent care.
Ultimately, the mergers will provide more choices to consumers in all Florida counties served by Cleveland Clinic, said Heather Phillips, the company’s senior director of corporate communications.
“This expands and strengthens access to highquality, affordable health care for patients throughout southeast Florida,” Phillips said via email. Whether that means that Cleveland Clinic-controlled facilities in Martin and Indian River counties will be added to provider networks of Broward and Palm Beach consumers and vice versa “will depend on each individual’s insurance plan,” she said.
Martin Health features three hospitals in Port St. Lucie and Stuart, a 150-member physician group and a full range of outpatient services. The takeover must be approved by state and federal regulators.
Mark Cherry, principal analyst with health care research and data provider Decision Resources Group, said the takeovers will enlarge Cleveland Clinic’s presence within the broader region to a size comparable to Broward Health and Jackson Health “within a matter of months.” It also will propel Cleveland Clinic to the dominant market position — “ahead of HCA’s two hospitals in St. Lucie County” — in terms of inpatient volume in the Treasure Coast region, he said.
“The move gives the Clinic a pipeline into a growing, affluent region, and with a critical mass of patient volume to ensure leverage when contracting with insurers on reimbursement,” he said.
While the news releases did not announce new names for the facilities in Martin and Indian River counties, Phillips said, “as we move forward together, we anticipate there will be name changes that will blend our identities together.”
Terms of the Martin Health takeover require Cleveland Clinic to keep the system’s employees for a least a year from the finalization of the agreement, continue its commitments to its retirees, and to maintain its affiliations with charities and nonprofit organizations.
Cleveland Clinic and Martin Health have maintained a heart and vascular care affiliation since January.
“Since that time, teams with both organizations have worked closely to develop processes, procedures, protocols and data reporting,” the news release said.