Overview
As an anchor institution, we strive to improve community health and well-being by leveraging all our available resources to provide an equitable, local economic impact. We expand our reach by partnering with trusted community organizations that share our commitment to creating a healthier community for everyone through our hire, heal and invest priorities.
Innovation Square
Safe, affordable housing and access to nutritious food are crucial elements for health. In 2021, Cleveland Clinic, Meijer, the City of Cleveland, Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation and Fairmount Properties broke ground on a new grocery market and apartment complex in the Fairfax neighborhood of Cleveland. Located on the corner of East 105th Street and Cedar Avenue in Fairfax, the mixed-use project will include a 40,000-square-foot grocery store and a 196-unit apartment building.
One block over, construction began in 2022 at The Aura at Innovation Square, another collaborative project financed in part by Cleveland Clinic. This mixed-income apartment building will include 82 one- and two-bedroom units designed to serve the local community and workforce.
Community Partnerships & Sponsorships
The health of a community is not determined solely on physical well-being, but on all the factors that go into the experience of living, working and thriving. Cleveland Clinic is committed to working with stakeholders and organizations that understand this reality to create a healthier community for everyone.
Through our Community Health Strategy (CHS), we consolidate all community-facing efforts and align resources to provide the highest level of partner-driven, organized, efficient and evidence-based opportunities. The objective of our CHS is to care for every community we serve through a heal, hire and invest approach. We consider the ways in which partnership requests address health equity for vulnerable populations, barriers to health identified in Community Health Needs Assessments and social determinants of health (such as local and equitable hiring, workforce development, sourcing and investing).
Our goal is to partner with organizations that meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Provide services to families and people throughout their lifetime.
- Are a trusted stakeholder and/or advocate for populations with health disparities.
- Promote wellness by directly addressing maternal/infant health, chronic disease prevention, behavioral health and/or socioeconomic concerns through evidence-based strategies.
- Support educational attainment and workforce development.
- Improve environment or community conditions, such as housing, green space and/or safety.
- Have the capacity to build a bidirectional partnership.
Learn more about Community Partnership and Sponsorship requests.
Community Service Time Off (CTSO)
Cleveland Clinic has a long-standing history of caring for our communities. To further support our commitment to the communities we serve, we launched our CSTO program in 2019. This program gives caregivers a one-time opportunity each year to use up to four paid hours to volunteer at approved community partner organizations. Community partners in our CSTO program are 501c3 nonprofits that provide services related to community benefit, such as:
- Improving community health and well-being.
- Providing and/or expanding education and workforce development opportunities.
- Supporting economic development initiatives.
- Addressing housing, food insecurity and other challenges faced by residents, families and neighborhoods in the communities we serve.
We provide caregivers with a directory on our HR Portal that includes approved community partners and events in Avon, Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Dover, Florida, Nevada, Lorain, Medina, Toronto and Wooster.
Local & Diverse Spending
Cleveland Clinic remains focused on supporting our local communities by sourcing products and services from diverse and local suppliers. Since 2010, we have spent approximately $1.3 billion on products and services from certified diverse suppliers.
In 2022, Cleveland Clinic posted a record $175 million in diverse spend, and our efforts for inclusion in our supply chain also encompassed diverse supplier development.
In March 2022, Cleveland Clinic partnered with University Hospitals to introduce the Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) Supplier Accelerator. The program provides opportunities for diverse-owned companies to expand awareness of their business offerings to potential clients while gaining new insights into finance, marketing, human resources and more.
From a pool of applicants, ten semifinalists were selected to spotlight their businesses to a panel of judges. Five finalists were selected as part of the first DEI Supplier Accelerator Cohort and participated in a six-month program providing:
- Business development coaching and navigation of the large corporate sourcing process.
- One-on-one access to leaders and subject matter experts from Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals.
- Networking opportunities with Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals decision makers and suppliers.
- Multidisciplinary business reviews providing actionable feedback to enhance and grow their business.
- A $10,000 cash prize upon successful completion of the program.
The first cohort graduated in November 2022 after completing the six-month program, with all five participants currently retained as vendors with Cleveland Clinic today. In May 2023, we launched our second cohort of five after reviewing over 50 applications.
In 2020, Cleveland Clinic joined Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN), a national collaboration of 75+ leading healthcare systems who recognize that economic disparity, racial inequity and persistent poverty are not just moral problems, but issues that must be addressed as part of healthcare’s mission. As a member of HAN, we committed to doubling our annual diverse spend from $80 million to $160 million by 2025 as part of an overall goal to spend $1 billion with diverse businesses and have already exceeded this goal.
Our Supplier Diversity strategy focuses on increasing procurement spend with businesses that are at least 51% owned and operated by minorities, women, veterans, service-disabled veterans, individuals identifying as LGBTQ and/or are Historically Under-utilized Business Zone (HUBZone) certified. Elements of our strategy include:
- Identifying and sharing procurement opportunities with diverse businesses across the enterprise (including Tier II opportunities with our contracted vendors).
- Providing mentorship and learning resources to diverse suppliers to support the continued growth and development of their businesses.
- Collaborating with professional organizations and leadership at the local, state and national levels to create a network and targeted programming that supports diverse businesses.
