Cleveland Clinic’s main campus is ranked the fifth worst health system in the U.S. for community spending compared to tax breaks, according to a new report by a national think tank.
The report found 76% of Ohio's private nonprofit hospitals receive more in tax benefits than they spend on community investments.
The Lown Institute calculated the Clinic had a $207 million deficit in property tax benefits compared with spending on community benefits, such as charity care and health screenings.
The Center for Community Solutions' 2024 fact sheet for Cleveland's Fairfax neighborhood — where the Clinic's main campus is located — shows 67.2% percent of residents are in, or near, poverty, and 71.8% are food insecure.
Outside the Meijer grocery store in Fairfax, Lachelle Dixon-Harris said the Clinic and other local hospitals need to help residents afford services — especially students and elderly residents.
“They should have access to affordable health care that meets their needs — those who live in the community, not those who are coming from outside of the community, not those who fly in from other countries," she said.
Tom Nobbe, who was also grocery shopping in the Clinic’s main campus neighborhood, said he thinks the Clinic’s recent investments into stores and apartments, including the Meijer grocery store, are helping some parts of the surrounding Fairfax neighborhood.
“I think (the Clinic is) definitely on the right track, but if we look (in this neighborhood and ask people) how are they feeling about everything, are they feeling like things are getting better?" he said, adding most hospital systems today operate more like big businesses than nonprofits.
"I think it's a challenge on their part to prove that they really are giving back to the community," Nobbe said. "What does that look like? Is it big things or is it really helping the smaller neighborhoods?"
Cleveland Clinic said in a statement it disputed the report, saying it provides community benefits in the form of research, education and Medicaid that the Lown Institute doesn’t recognize.
The report also found University Hospitals Medical Center in Cleveland had a deficit of $48 million.
University Hospitals said the report mischaracterizes their community benefit spending. In a statement, the system said it delivers community benefits that far exceed tax exemptions, including investments in maternal and child health, addressing food insecurity and creating jobs for under-resourced individuals.
Local hospitals with a community spending surplus include Canton’s Aultman Hospital Main Campus, Ashtabula Regional Medical Center and Euclid Hospital, according to the report.
