July 18, 2018

Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve Receive Generous Gift to Health Education Campus from Sheila and Eric Samson

Scheduled to open in summer 2019, campus to offer state-of-the-future technology, innovative interprofessional education

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Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University have been given a very generous gift from Sheila and Eric Samson for the Health Education Campus (HEC), scheduled to open in summer 2019. In recognition of the significant donation, the campus’ centerpiece 485,000-square-foot facility will be named the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion.

Designed by London’s Foster + Partners architects, the state-of-the-future campus will include the Samson Pavilion as well as a dental clinic education building. Students from the university’s schools of medicine, nursing and dental medicine – including those in Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine – will learn, study and collaborate together on the 11-acre campus, located between Euclid and Chester avenues at Cleveland Clinic.

“When it opens next year, the Health Education Campus will transform medical education for the next generation of caregivers,” said Tom Mihaljevic, M.D., CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic. “We are exceedingly grateful to Eric and Sheila Samson for their vision and support of this project, which will provide our students with the most technologically advanced learning environment as we prepare them to become leading providers in exceptional patient care.”

This most recent gift makes the Samsons among the largest donors to Cleveland Clinic. A steel company executive, Mr. Samson had successful heart surgery performed by Toby Cosgrove, M.D., executive advisor and former CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic. Mrs. Samson is also a patient. Mr. Samson, Executive Chairman of Macsteel Holdings, is a member of Cleveland Clinic’s International Leadership Board.

The Samsons made previous gifts to Cleveland Clinic to establish the Samson Global Leadership Academy, to the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute and to the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. The Samsons are natives of South Africa.

“The new Health Education Campus will bring in a new era of teaching,” Mr. Samson said. “We have to look to the future, new technology and an updated way of imparting knowledge. The collaboration between Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University will certainly make this campus the best teaching facility available to students.”

“We are humbled by the Samsons’ generous support and their recognition of the potential that this project has to help transform healthcare,” said Case Western Reserve University President Barbara R. Snyder. “As students from multiple health professions learn together in one extraordinary space, they will be uniquely prepared to lead teams that provide coordinated treatments that result in better outcomes for patients.”

Health Education Campus Cleveland Clinic Case Western Reserve
Rendering of the front entrance, Samson Pavilion, Health Education Campus (Courtesy: Cleveland Clinic)

More than 350 people, including the two organizations’ leaders, the Samson family and other supporters, attended an announcement of the gift today at the site. To date, the two institutions together have raised more than $270 million for the $515 million project, and active joint fundraising continues.

The Samson Pavilion will feature a 27,000-square-foot central atrium that draws maximum light from a specially engineered roof. Admissions and other academic learning environments will surround the central first-floor space. The building also will house an innovation laboratory, where students and faculty can develop and test new technologies, and pilot their use in healthcare education.

The HEC will include a separate dental clinic education building on the north side of Chester Avenue. This building will provide greater access to patients for their community clinic and education program.

Health Education Campus Cleveland Clinic Case Western Reserve
Samson Pavilion, Health Education Campus, July 2018 (Courtesy: Cleveland Clinic)

Overall, the hospital and university expect 2,200 medical, dental, nursing and physician assistant students to be learning in the building simultaneously.

“The Samsons have a long relationship with Cleveland Clinic and have made a tremendous impact on the Health Education Campus,” Dr. Cosgrove said. “With their significant gift, they are helping to provide the upcoming generation of students with the innovative education required to lead in this new era of medicine.”

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About Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey. Among Cleveland Clinic’s 52,000 employees are more than 3,600 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 14,000 nurses, representing 140 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic’s health system includes a 165-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, 11 regional hospitals, more than 150 northern Ohio outpatient locations – including 18 full-service family health centers and three health and wellness centers – and locations in Weston, Fla.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2017, there were 7.6 million outpatient visits, 229,000 hospital admissions and 207,000 surgical cases throughout Cleveland Clinic’s health system. Patients came for treatment from every state and 185 countries. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at twitter.com/ClevelandClinic. News and resources available at newsroom.clevelandclinic.org.About Case Western Reserve Case Western Reserve University is one of the country's leading private research institutions. Located in Cleveland, we offer a unique combination of forward-thinking educational opportunities in an inspiring cultural setting. Our leading-edge faculty engage in teaching and research in a collaborative, hands-on environment. Our nationally recognized programs include arts and sciences, dental medicine, engineering, law, management, medicine, nursing and social work. About 4,200 undergraduate and 5,600 graduate students comprise our student body. Visit case.edu to see how Case Western Reserve thinks beyond the possible.

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