Cleveland Clinic is known worldwide for exceptional patient care.
What is less well known — but equally important — is our commitment to caring for our neighbors and communities.
Uplifting those around us is our obligation. It is central to our mission. We cannot succeed if our extended family is in need.
We help our communities in four broad areas:
Educating current and future caregivers. By training medical professionals — physicians, nurses, scientists and others — and helping people embark on healthcare careers, we ensure the public receives the highest level of medical care. In 2024, we spent $357.9 million on medical education.
Funding research into new treatments and cures. Our scientists’ discoveries play a vital role in fighting disease and improving lives. Our innovations also drive new businesses that aid the economy. We contributed $147.3 million in 2024 to support research.
Supporting public health initiatives. We are working with partners to address urgent issues affecting the communities we serve. These efforts include removing dangerous lead from homes and daycare facilities, feeding the hungry, giving infants a healthy start in life and supporting the opening of a residential addiction treatment and recovery facility for women. Our 2024 net contribution for community health improvement was $12.7 million.
Providing free or discounted care for those in need and subsidizing essential health services. We treated 139,000 patients facing financial hardship at zero or reduced cost to them in 2024. Additionally, we provided essential clinical services not fully covered by reimbursement, such as psychiatric and behavioral health programs, at a cost of $28.7 million in 2024. We also absorbed a $608.2 million shortfall between our actual cost of treating Medicaid patients and the amount reimbursed.
In total, Cleveland Clinic contributed $1.49 billion in community benefit across Ohio, Florida and Nevada in 2024.
The community benefits provided by Cleveland Clinic are far-reaching, from providing accessible healthcare to educating the next generation of healthcare professionals, funding medical research that leads to advanced treatments and cures, and supporting community health initiatives.
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Discharge with Dignity provides clean clothing and hygiene items for any patients in need when it’s time to be discharged from the hospital. Begun at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital in Florida, Discharge with Dignity was expanded to the health system’s Main Campus with help from a Catalyst Grant, a philanthropic project that funds employee-driven innovations.
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Caring for community begins with caring for mothers and children through a variety of health initiatives, including lead safety measures at licensed daycare facilities to maternal mental health and TeamBirth, a birthing model that strengthens communications between pregnant women and their care team. Our OB navigators help obstetrics patients find health and community resources, which in turn improves outcomes for families.
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Cleveland Clinic’s Nourish pantries work with local food banks to offer free nutritious groceries for patients and family members who need them. Nutrition professionals can answer questions about general health and wellbeing, chronic disease management through diet and exercise, and community resources.
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Our mobile mammography unit brings breast cancer screening services to communities throughout Ohio with otherwise limited access. An outreach team identifies geographic areas most in need of services so that breast cancer, the second leading cause of death in women, can be detected early.
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Lead poisoning poses a significant threat to children under six, and Cleveland's children suffer this crisis at a rate four times the national average. In collaboration with the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition and Starting Point resource provider, Cleveland Clinic helped launch Lead Safe Child Care. The program identifies licensed childcare providers to receive grants and services to eliminate lead hazards.
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Community members who live near Cleveland Clinic’s Lutheran Hospital and Langston Hughes Community Health and Education Center are working on improving their health at new “smart” gyms, which feature high-tech equipment that encourages goal setting and tracking.
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One in five South Florida children have food insecurity, which is why Cleveland Clinic in Florida helps support the Mobile School Pantry in Broward County. The pantry provides nutritious food to children and families in need so they can learn, grow and thrive.
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At Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, an eight-week summer art program called Opening Minds through Art brought together people living with dementia and student volunteers for a series of art-making projects. The program provides social enrichment while helping those with dementia tap into their creative senses.
