Lakewood Hospital Is Not Dead Yet!

Bob Soltis addresses March 10 public forum; Photo by Frank Lanza

Like the good knight did for his servant Patsy shot with an arrow in the 1975 movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, many people have assumed it’s all over for Lakewood Hospital. Despite what the Cleveland Clinic and Mayor Summers would have you believe, Lakewood Hospital is alive and well.

As I said at the public forum on March 10, a decision-maker has to have all of the facts. Although the City Council’s consultant has yet to review the situation or give its expertise, too many have already pronounced the hospital terminally ill or even dead. 

Yogi Berra put it this way: “It ain’t over until it’s over.” Although the hospital building is in good shape and a 35 percent increase in job growth is expected in Lakewood, the Clinic and the Mayor insist the hospital is unsustainable. The naysayers claim “Geography (the lake) limits us to the North.” “Lakewoodites don’t go to Lakewood Hospital.”  “The trend is away from inpatient services.”

Such limiting beliefs belie the facts. As a retired administrative law judge who spent the majority of his work day the last three years deciding whether Medicare will pay for inpatient hospital services, I can tell you that inpatient services aren’t quite dead yet, either; the hearing backlog of inpatient hospital claims is public knowledge. As for the argument that Lakewoodites don’t go to Lakewood Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic already moved cardiology services to Fairview Hospital, and as one woman put it at the public forum, Cleveland Clinic didn’t make it easy to admit her mother to Lakewood Hospital. 

The Clinic has been pulling the rug out from under Lakewood Hospital for quite some time; for example, as of January 2014, it transferred inpatient screening services to Westlake. If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way; if you don’t, you’ll find an excuse. We’ve had enough of the Clinic’s and of Mayor Summers’ excuses and the lack of transparency.

Instead of treating the hospital like a white elephant, let’s make it a way to wellness. Change its name to Lakewood Medical Center to describe and encompass its wellness mission. Another speaker at the forum suggested using some of the empty beds for inpatient mental health. The Lakewood Hospital Association could reach out to the VA so veterans don’t have to go all the way to the East side. The RTA has its Cleveland Clinic line heading east; we can say “Go West for Wellness to Lakewood Medical Center.” Put bike racks in front of the hospital to encourage healthy habits, decrease pollution, and decrease congestion.

We can also reach out to other potential suitors. It’s our hospital, not Cleveland Clinic’s hospital - and it’s not Mayor Summers’ hospital either.

This situation is an excellent opportunity for you to keep Lakewood a great place to live and work. How? Attend our 4 p.m. meetings at the Lakewood Library on Saturday, April 11 and Sunday, April 19. Write a letter or send a postcard to your council member; you can get the addresses on the Save Lakewood Hospital website www.savelakewoodhospital.org.

In the Navy, we lived by “Don’t give up the ship.” Let’s not give up on our hospital, either.

Lakewood resident Bob Soltis is a scientist, a former Navy Judge Advocate, and a retired federal administrative law judge.