“The environment is forcing, what I think is important and necessary, cooperation and collaboration, something that I think the industry will benefit from,” Sheldon says.
Within a year, the number of physicians employed by the health system has doubled, he says, and EMH Healthcare is addressing ways to collaborate with physicians who may not want to be employed by a hospital.
“We need to develop meaningful partnerships with physicians to be successful,” Shelton says. “They, too, are experiencing the same stresses that we are.”
Similar to other cities in northern Ohio, including Cleveland and Mentor, Elyria has an aging demographic in a population that has been declining. The region's high unemployment rate has affected the region's hospitals and health systems.
In June, the Cleveland Clinic announced that it plans to close Huron Hospital, a 137-year-old, 177-bed facility in East Cleveland. The health system says there was a 10% decrease in discharges, and on some days it treated as few as 47 patients. In its place, the clinic will open a community health center.
“With declining population and limited use, the hospital was half empty,” says Eileen Sheil, executive director of corporate communications at the Cleveland Clinic. “There's less need for hospital beds across the country and we're seeing that certainly across our health system.”