Smaller hospitals in Cleveland area fighting to remain independent

Administrators at smaller, independent hospitals in northern Ohio say they are having trouble competing with the ever-increasing network of facilities that are part of the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospital systems (Source: “Independent hospitals working hard to retain their freedom,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Aug. 4, 2008).

"I lose sleep at night thinking about when the Cleveland Clinic opens (its new) buildings . . . and we hear the giant sucking noise," said Thomas A. Selden, the president of Southwest General Hospital in Cleveland.

More than a dozen formerly independent hospitals in the region have joined one of the two large hospital systems in recent years, leaving just six independent hospitals remaining in Greater Cleveland.