Why Cleveland Clinic Is Expanding Trauma Care in Cleveland

Recently, Cleveland Clinic shared our plans to pursue a Level I trauma center on our main campus. Our mission is grounded in ensuring that high‑quality care is available to everyone who needs it. This is why we continue to grow and reinvest back into our organization.

Today, there is a gap in the care we can provide. Each year, hundreds of severely injured patients must be transferred out of our system because we do not have the trauma designation required to treat them, adding precious time when patients can least afford delays. Each handoff introduces risk to the patient’s already critical condition.

Adding a Level I trauma center provides increased continuity of care for patients whose injuries require the highly specialized care we are known for. Consistently ranked as one of the world's best hospitals, patients from across the region, the nation, and the world seek our expertise for their most complex, critical medical and surgical needs.

Across the country, most large academic medical centers provide Level I trauma care because patients need the rapid access they can provide to a wide range of specialized services – such as neurosurgery, critical care, advanced imaging, and rehabilitation – available around the clock. Cleveland Clinic already provides integrated, complex care every day, positioning us to meet these urgent needs.

This effort also builds on our continued investment in patient care, including the expansion of our main campus emergency department and the opening of our new Neurological Institute Building next year. This facility – one of the most advanced in the world – will provide patients with the best neurological care possible. Together, these projects will increase capacity, strengthen care for patients with serious injuries, and help relieve pressure on emergency departments across the region.

We care deeply about our patients and the communities we serve, and that commitment guides every decision we make. As a nonprofit academic medical center, Cleveland Clinic serves more Medicaid patients than any health system in Ohio and reinvests in our communities by addressing broader needs like food insecurity and housing instability that shape health outcomes.

Trauma care is a natural extension of our responsibility to serve patients in our region. Expanding trauma care strengthens the safety net for Northeast Ohio and helps ensure more patients can receive lifesaving care close to home, when it matters most.

Our intent is simple: To help people. To care for patients. To stand ready when our community needs us most. Establishing a Level I trauma center reflects that commitment – today and for the years ahead.