CLEVELAND — A new hub for care in Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood is taking shape. The MetroHealth Glick Center is several weeks away from opening to patients and anchoring the hospital system’s reimagined main campus.
“If you look at our old buildings, they were designed in a different time and a different era, when there were different expectations of hospitals,” said Dr. Jennifer Bailit, the Chief Medical Officer for MetroHealth Inpatient Services.
Thursday, News 5 was invited to tour the new 11-story, 767,000-square foot facility located between W 25 Street and Interstate 71 on the near west side.
“To our knowledge, [it’s] one of largest public hospital self-financed projects in the country,” said Greg Zucca, the Executive Director for MetroHealth’s Community Transformation and Real Estate Holdings.
The nearly $1 billion project, which will house the hospital system’s inpatient services, will feature state-of-the-art technology with customizable rooms and modular furniture. Patient rooms have space for family members to spend the night and can all be converted from single to double occupancy.
Each floor can also be modified into an intensive care unit.
“We can expand and contract to our community’s needs easily and we have all the tools we need to respond to the next pandemic, for example, if needed,” explained Dr. Bailit.
For all of its modern medical technology, the Glick Center was also designed to be intentionally noninstitutional.
“We hope that when everyone walks through the doors here at MetroHealth, they feel a sense of hope and humanity, that the art collection makes them feel welcome,” said Linda Jackson, the Director for the Center of Arts and Health at MetroHealth’s Institute of H.O.P.E.
Guests will be greeted by hundreds of pieces of art, from murals and hanging displays in the lobby to small framed pictures on patient floors.
Close to 70% of the art was created by Northeast Ohio artists, including Derek Brennan, a muralist working on a jungle tree house space in the pediatric play and relaxation center.
“The arts can contribute to health and well-being. We know there are physiological benefits, psychological benefits, social benefits, building social connection,” Jackson said. “We know there’s evidence of how the arts can actually impact staff retention, the artwork itself, and how it can lower hospital stays, shorter stays.”
Patient rooms also feature designs, like floor-to-ceiling windows and digital displays, to create an inviting and functional environment. Separate elevator banks will give patients and staff more private passage to care “off-state,” while visitors will use “on-stage” public elevators.
The hospital system will transition patients from its old buildings on October 15.
Additionally, an outpatient pavilion under construction now will replace older infrastructure. It’s scheduled to open for patients in early 2024. When all care is transitioned, MetroHealth plans to demolish the outdated buildings and create a 12-acre park in their place.
The reimagined main campus is part of a wider neighborhood revitalization featuring affordable housing and community resources. The hospital system said it will be a holistic approach to improve health outcomes.
“We want to make sure the community that we’re a part of is a healthy, thriving neighborhood and community,” Zucca said.
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