In a bold move that Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic believe will place Cleveland at the forefront of medical education worldwide, the two organizations announced Saturday that they will partner in the ownership and operation of CWRU’s new medical education building — and put it in the heart of the Clinic’s main campus.
The Clinic is donating the land for the building, a badly needed update to the university’s aging facility. The organizations will share in the cost of construction and in fundraising.
“We all know that Cleveland is a center for really great health care,” CWRU President Barbara R. Snyder told The Plain Dealer. “With this project, we want to make sure that Cleveland is also an internationally known center for health education.”
The move — approved unanimously by the CWRU and Clinic boards in separate meetings — is likely less welcome at University Hospitals, which has long enjoyed favored status as CWRU’s “primary” affiliate in medical research and education.