MetroHealth's new hospital opens at Severance

From left, Akram Boutros, M.D., MetroHealth president and CEO; Bev Lozar, executive director of Behavioral Hospital Operations; Julia Bruner, M.D., senior vice president for Behavioral Health and Correctional Medicine; and Jane Platten, executive vice president and chief administrative officer. 

A dedication ceremony to mark the opening of the MetroHealth Cleveland Heights Behavioral Health Hospital was held on Oct. 4.

The new three-story, 100,000-square-foot hospital at 10 Severance Circle is believed to be the largest investment in behavioral health in Northeast Ohio in at least 30 years. The 112-bed hospital facility is designed for short-term stays for adolescents, adults and seniors with mood disorders, addiction, and other behavioral health needs.

“We’re setting a new standard in relation to care in Northeast Ohio,” said Julia Bruner, M.D., MetroHealth’s senior vice president for Behavioral Health and Correctional Medicine. “We want to do the best for our patients and our families and the community.” The new hospital, she said, is “designed to be a place of calm, of welcoming and of light.”

The hospital, on the campus of the MetroHealth Cleveland Heights Medical Center, will add 225 jobs and generate an estimated $350,000 in additional tax revenue for Cleveland Heights.

The behavioral health expansion will help reduce Cuyahoga County's critical shortage of care and treatment capacity. In 2019, nearly half of the residents who required behavioral health inpatient care received it outside of Cuyahoga County.

In addition to behavioral health, MetroHealth will continue to offer inpatient services, specialty care, emergency services, pharmacy services and other care in Cleveland Heights.

Angela Townsend

Angela Townsend is a senior writer in the department of marketing and communications at The MetroHealth System.

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Volume 15, Issue 11, Posted 12:51 PM, 10.17.2022