Cleveland Clinic Akron General is about to get a new president and a new role as the hub hospital of what the Cleveland Clinic calls its Southern Region.
Dr. Brian Harte, who has overseen two of the Cleveland Clinic’s suburban hospitals, takes over Sept. 26, about 10 months after federal regulators signed off on the Cleveland Clinic’s acquisition of Akron General, Lodi Community Hospital, Edwin Shaw Rehabilitation Institute, three health and wellness centers, a hospice and Visiting Nurse Service and Affiliates.
He arrives during a time of enormous transition: the Cleveland Clinic and Akron General’s integration is ongoing; construction will soon begin on a new emergency department on Akron General’s main campus; and Edwin Shaw will be relocated late next year to a new 60-bed rehab center being built in Bath Township on the Akron General Health and Wellness Center campus.
At the same time, Harte will guide one of three emerging regional operations for the Cleveland Clinic. The aim is to provide patients seamless, standardized care closer to where people live.
Akron General has been without a permanent leader since May, when Dr. Thomas “Tim” Stover abruptly retired. Stover helped forge the relationship between the two hospitals.
Janice Murphy has served as interim leader and will return to her role as chief operating officer for Cleveland Clinic Regional Operations once Harte takes the helm of Akron General.
Bringing Harte to Akron is a sign of the Cleveland Clinic’s commitment to Akron and the region, said Dr. J. Stephen Jones, president of Cleveland Clinic Regional Hospitals and Family Health Centers.
Harte, 46, has been with the Cleveland Clinic since 2004. For the past three years, he served as president of the 500-bed Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights. Before that, he was president of South Pointe Hospital, a Cleveland Clinic facility in Warrensville Heights.
On Wednesday, Harte said his first goal at Akron General is to meet with caregivers, physicians and community leaders “to understand what makes Akron General tick and how that fits into the larger civic” and health care landscape.
“Akron General is more than 100 years old. It’s been around longer than the Cleveland Clinic,” he said.
Next, Harte said, he wants to figure out how to leverage the strengths of both Akron General and the Cleveland Clinic to better serve the city and the broader region.
Regional hubs
The Cleveland Clinic is beginning to implement a regional operating structure with three hospitals beyond its main Cleveland campus. Akron General will anchor the south, a sprawling area that stretches south to Wooster. Hillcrest, where Harte serves as president now, will serve areas to the east of Cleveland. Fairview Hospital will be the hub for patients who live to the west.
“Health care is ultimately local,” Jones said. “And whether you receive care at the smallest office in an outlying area, Akron General or on the Cleveland Clinic’s main campus, you’re getting the same standard of care.”
If an injured patient comes into Akron General’s emergency room in Bath and needs to be hospitalized, the patient can choose to go to Medina Hospital if that’s closer to home. Similarly, if a patient in Green needs cardiac care, he no longer needs to go to Cleveland. In January 2015, the Cleveland Clinic permanently relocated one of its cardiac surgeons to Akron General.
A large part of Harte’s job as president will be to analyze other patient needs in the region and organize care to meet those, with Akron General always serving as the regional hospital hub for their care.
Prior experience
Harte, who grew up in Cincinnati, received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and was in private practice for five years before joining the Cleveland Clinic 12 years ago. He is an associate professor of medicine in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and also serves as president of the Society of Hospital Medicine.
Harte and his wife have three school-aged children who attend Shaker Heights public schools where they live. They haven’t yet decided whether to relocate closer to his new job, he said.
Harte — who runs, bikes and hikes — said there’s medical evidence that shows the chances of people getting chronic disease increases the more they sit.
He hopes to bring his treadmill desk to Akron.
“Even athletic people who spend a lot of time sitting, that sedentary behavior can have significant negative ramifications for your health,” he said. “I think it’s personally important for leaders, especially physician leaders, to model good behavior.”
Amanda Garrett can be reached at 330-996-3725 or agarrett@thebeaconjournal.com.