• Safety
• Noise
• Property Value Decline
• Quality of Life
• Constant disturbance of the peace in a residentially zoned area - (Fairview Hospital is land locked and surrounded by Cleveland residents who pay the lion’s share of property taxes.)
• A lack of satisfactory communication by Fairview Hospital officials to the community concerning their future plans
• Changes in plans by Fairview Hospital – (what hospital officials tell the community and what actually happens are many times two different things.)
The situation at Medina Hospital has been very revealing. Those residents were told things by Medina Hospital officials before the helicopters began flying in earnest. The realities have been far different.
Below in red font are snippets from various media sources including the PD to emphasize my concerns. Words in blue font are my responses and concerns:
Dr. Kralovic noted Medina is far from other hospitals, like the Clinic’s downtown campus, that provide heart attack and other trauma care. “Here in Medina, the people in this community don’t have quick access to heart attack care,” Kralovic said.
He said the transport team uses the helicopter in situations when patients at Medina Hospital or at nearby hospitals, like Wooster Community Hospital, need more critical care.
Kralovic stressed that having helicopters at Medina Hospital is important in saving lives.
He said, for example, that a 50-year old man who had a heart attack at his home was taken to the Clinic’s main campus in Cleveland by helicopter, which helped save time and his life without any damage to his heart.
Note: The distance from Medina Hospital to the Clinic main campus is 27.4 miles. The distance from Medina Hospital to Akron General (which also has a heliport) is only 16.4 miles away. Akron General is fully equipped to handle cardiac emergencies like the Clinic’s main campus. Akron General has a fully functional emergency cardiac care facility. If saving time is the issue, it begs the question – why doesn’t the clinic save precious time and take the patient to the nearest healthcare facility equipped to do the job?
In Cleveland when responding to a medical emergency, a critical patient will be taken to the nearest facility to save time regardless if the patient wishes to go to another hospital. To me this makes the Clinic’s argument is moot. Furthermore, consider the time that would be saved if the Clinic invested in their Media Hospital, equipping it with what is necessary to be able to treat cardiac patients without the added time of a helicopter transport. Medina is a growing region. It is being served by hospitals from the Akron region. Perhaps the Clinic needs to build their cardiac center at Medina Hospital instead of at Fairview Hospital. The Main Campus already has a cardiac center. Why does the Clinic need two cardiac centers in Cleveland?
The decision to place a helicopter at Medina full-time came out of a growing need for transports coming from that area to the main Clinic campus, said Dr. Damon Kralovic, director of the Clinic's Critical Care Transport Team.
"Over the past year we've had a three-fold increase in transfers," he said. Because there are only a handful of hospitals in Northeast Ohio with a cardiac catherization lab, a patient in cardiac arrest who needs to be evacuated quickly, for example, can now be taken to the Clinic's main campus in under one hour.
Note: A person commented on Cleveland.com concerning Dr. Kralovic’s statement that “there are only a handful of hospitals in Northeast Ohio with a cardiac catherization lab”
"Because there are only a handful of hospitals with a cardiac cath lab in northeast Ohio".....?????? St. John Westshore, Fairview, Lakewood, SW Gen, Elyria Memorial, Parma Community, St. Vincent's Charity, Metrohealth, CCF, UH, Hillcrest, VAMC, Akron General, Summa Health, Citizen's General all have full service cath labs. I certainly don't understand that comment. In reality, there are only a handful of hospitals that DON'T offer the service. Nothing wrong with that, but, again, I don't understand the source's comment.
None of the patients the Clinic transports from Medina are trauma patients. Those patients are transported to MetroHealth, which along with other hospitals use a second helipad at Medina.
Note: I personally find this to be an interesting comment. Why are trauma patients from Medina Hospital handled by Cleveland Metro Health when Akron General ( a Level 1 Trauma hospital) is only 16 miles away? Akron General is also equipped with helicopter transport. Is there some deal worked out with the Cleveland Clinic and Metro Health? Trauma patients need to be transported to the nearest Level 1 Trauma Hospital which in the case of Medina is Akron General.
As Dr. Damon Kralovic, director of the critical care transport team, pointed out, “every minute in those kinds of situations counts.”
“Here in Medina, the people in this community don’t have quick access to heart attack care,” Kralovic said.
He said the transport team uses the helicopter in situations when patients at Medina Hospital or at nearby hospitals, like Wooster Community Hospital, need more critical care.
He said the transport team is “not in the helicopter business”.
“We don’t bill our own aircraft. We don’t bill the patients. We just provide the medical crew to put on the helicopter. From our standpoint, there’s really no incentive to fly. We just fly when it’s absolutely necessary,” Kralovic said.
Note: Again, this really begs the question – if Medina Hospital, (A Cleveland Clinic Hospital), is not in the helicopter business and there really is no (monetary) incentive to fly, then why isn’t Medina Hospital flying their critical patients to the nearest facility (Akron General) in order to save on critical time?
The hospital makes about 400 transports a month, but about 150 of them are by helicopter for critical-care treatment, according to Damon M. Kralovic, director of critical-care treatment for the Cleveland Clinic, which runs Medina Hospital.
Note: 150 helicopter transports a month works out to 1,800 helicopter transports a year. Medina Hospital during their meetings with the residents in the surrounding area, told the residents that there would be maybe 2 helicopter transports a day. 150 a month works out to 5 a day. That is why the Medina residents are so upset. They were told that there would be maybe 2 a day and that the helicopters would fly a route that would cause the least amount of interference with the neighbors. This has not been the case. The Cleveland Clinic was not up front with the residents of Medina.
I have read the writing on the wall – The Clinic wishes to build an ICU and Cardiac wing on Fairview Hospital. I believe those 150 critical helicopter transports from Media Hospital are coming to Fairview Hospital. I also believe that Fairview Hospital will get additional helicopter transports from Hillcrest Hospital; Euclid Hospital; South Pointe Hospital; Ashtabula Hospital; Marymount Hospital; the new Avon Hospital. All these hospitals are Clinic hospitals. I personally do not believe that the Clinic is being up front with the citizens of West Park when they state that there will be no more than 100 helicopter transports a year once the addition is built. What has been happening in Medina gives me great reason to worry.
The argument of critical time:
Hospital officials are using time as the reason why helicopter transports are necessary. But from what I have read lately concerning the shutting down of Huron Road Hospital’s Level 2 trauma status makes me question the critical time argument.
Huron Road Hospital serves the residents of Cleveland and East Cleveland. The Cleveland Clinic has intentions of shutting down this much needed service. Trauma is critical care. The Cleveland has stated that these critical patients can simply go by ambulance to Metro Health or Hillcrest Hospital. As it turns out, the added ambulance times from Huron Road to Metro Health and Hillcrest Hospitals work out like this: (according to mapquest)
Huron Road Hospital to Hillcrest Hospital – 8.5 miles, Time – 23 minutes
Huron Road Hospital to Metro Health Hospital – 9.3 miles, Time – 21 minutes
"To tack on 15 to 20 minutes for an ambulance ride out to Hillcrest -- I think the Cleveland Clinic might be putting people's lives in danger," East Cleveland Mayor Gary Norton has said.
Cleveland EMS Commissioner Ed Eckart has warned that everyone who needs the services of EMS and the Cleveland Fire Department -- not just trauma patients -- will be hurt by Huron's closing. If an ambulance has to deliver a patient to MetroHealth, he said, and someone else is injured while it's there, the second patient will have to wait.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Cleveland EMS Commissioner Ed Eckart on Monday made the argument that the plan to shift East Side trauma cases from Huron in East Cleveland to Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights or MetroHealth Medical Center will result in longer transport times, and worse outcomes, for patients.
Having to travel more often to Hillcrest, which will be the only other Level II adult trauma center on the East Side, will mean ambulances will spend more time traveling back to Cleveland, which will in turn impact the response time for all 911 calls citywide, Eckart said.
I question why the Clinic would even consider closing the much needed Level 2 Trauma center at Huron Road. The needs of the whole community would suffer should it be shut down as those above have noted. Why does the Cleveland Clinic feel that a 23 minute ambulance transport is OK for critical patients from the east side of Cleveland and East Cleveland? I thought the Clinic was concerned with the golden hour of critical time.
As for the safety aspects:
There is a plethora of information out there concerning the hazards of helicopters. I believe that Cleveland needs to seriously study the safety aspects of having a helipad in the highly populated neighborhood of West Park. I have personally worked with helicopters in the Navy. I am familiar with the dangers of jet fuel, prop wash, flying debris. I certainly do not want any helicopters flying directly over my house at a low altitude.
From a news story I found from a Milwaukee Channel 4 story, Justin Green, a decorated military helicopter pilot and one of the world's leading experts on medical aviation stated:
"It's as dangerous as you can get unless you're over in Iraq flying in military aviation,”
So why are there so many crashes? Here are more excerpts from the story -
“There is very little federal regulation.”
“Pilots don't have to follow FAA rules for pilot rest. Safety equipment isn't mandated, and no one tells them when it's just too dangerous to fly.”
You can read the complete story at -
http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/45606712.html
Robert Sumwalt, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, told the AP that he is concerned that the Federal Aviation Administration has not implemented safety recommendations for the air medical industry made by his agency.
http://www.fairwarning.org/2010/09/helicopter-crash-renews-concerns-about-safety-of-medical-flights/
As a result of flying ill-equipped into risky conditions, medical helicopters crash at twice the rate of other air taxis and are exponentially more dangerous than commercial airliners, according to a 2009 study by Ira Blumen, medical and program director of the University of Chicago Aeromedical Network. Air ambulances have crashed 264 times between 1972 and 2008, killing 264 people. The first three months of this year kicked off with two more fatal crashes, leaving six dead (half of whom died during a military EMS simulation).
In fact, working onboard a medical helicopter is the most dangerous profession in America, Blumen found, with a higher fatality rate than that of fishermen, loggers or steelworkers.
"Most people think medical helicopters are like airliners, that they all meet the same standards," says Thomas Judge, executive director of LifeFlight of Maine. "Yet here we take injured passengers, with no choice of carrier, and subject them to this huge variation of standards that airline passengers would not accept."
Often, helicopter evacuations are not even needed to save a life. "Medics call helicopters just so a ground ambulance can stay on call," says Bryan Bledsoe, an emergency room doctor and a professor at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, who participated in an expert study of Trooper 2's crash. "Helicopters fly medically unnecessary flights every day."
http://emsflightcrew.com/content/unacceptable-risk-troubling-medical-helicopter-safety-record
Perhaps its time for the Clinic to invest more into their Medina Hospital and even their new Avon Hospital (under construction) since they are moving into those regions. There are other hospital systems already in those regions that are equipped to handle emergencies. Why does the Cleveland Clinic wish to transport these patients across county lines? Transportation does take time. That is one of the Clinic’s arguments for helicopters. But with other hospitals in those regions, is it really necessary to even have helicopters?
The new Avon facility is not land locked and could easily be used as a Clinic regional Hospital. There is plenty of room to expand without the need to encroach on residents already living around that area.
With all the hopsitals in Cleveland and its suburbs, it appears that the Clinic helicopters will be used to transport patients from outside the city of Cleveland as well as Cuyahoga County. Cleveland needs property tax dollars. Property tax dollars pay for things like schools and fire protection. The Cleveland Clinic would be paying in excess of $20 million of it had to pay their property taxes. They do not because they are non-profit. Cleveland has been having a hard time paying for things such as their schools and their safety forces.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Some Videos
To give neighbors an idea of the noise and wind created by helicopters as well as showing some very real safety concerns, I have added some new videos. I will be posting soon a video showing exactly what a Clinic helicopter looks and sounds like flying very low over a Medina neighborhood. Stay tuned.
1. A Cleveland Clinic helicopter taking off from Akron General Hospital. Good video to get a sense of the noise and wind turbulance created by the Sikorsky helicopter.
2. A video and story concerning a medivac helicopter making a very hard landing on a residential street.
3. A video and links to a story concerning a medical helicopter crash in 2008 at a hospital in Grand Rapids.
I want to make note that the helipad at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids is not surrounded by a residential neighborhood.
http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/05/helicopter_crash_at_butterwort.html
http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/05/more_photos_of_spectrum_health.html
1. A Cleveland Clinic helicopter taking off from Akron General Hospital. Good video to get a sense of the noise and wind turbulance created by the Sikorsky helicopter.
2. A video and story concerning a medivac helicopter making a very hard landing on a residential street.
3. A video and links to a story concerning a medical helicopter crash in 2008 at a hospital in Grand Rapids.
I want to make note that the helipad at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids is not surrounded by a residential neighborhood.
http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/05/helicopter_crash_at_butterwort.html
http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/05/more_photos_of_spectrum_health.html
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Important Board of Zoning Appeals meeting
On January 31, 2011, City Hall, Room 514 at 9:30 am
Fairview Hospital will be appealing zoning rules in residential West Park so they can build their addition and helipad.
Be involved and be heard.
If you cannot make the meeting, you can mail your concerns to the Cleveland Board of Zoning Appeals.
Fairview Hospital will be appealing zoning rules in residential West Park so they can build their addition and helipad.
Be involved and be heard.
If you cannot make the meeting, you can mail your concerns to the Cleveland Board of Zoning Appeals.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Unnecessary Noise - Cleveland Ohio ordinance 605.10
During the week of 12/5/10, Fairview Hospital’s construction of their Riveredge employee parking lot continued well past 7:00pm. For several nights, construction crews continued working till midnight.
Not only has the construction continued past 7:00pm, it begins before 7:00am. Construction seems to start before or at 6:00am. The same situation is also happening on West 179th street as well.
West Park residents living near Fairview Hospital have been subjected to the constant noise of construction vehicles, backup beepers, horns blowing, workers yelling and swearing, diesel generators running through out the night, construction vehicles idling next to houses while they wait to enter the construction site, exhaust fumes etc. sometimes at all hours through the night.
No person shall make, or cause, suffer, allow, or permit to be made within the City any unreasonably loud, disturbing and unnecessary noise, or noises of such character, intensity or duration as to be detrimental to the life and health of any individual, or unreasonably disturb the quiet, comfort, or repose of neighboring inhabitants.
Loud, disturbing and unnecessary noises in violation of this section shall include without limitation the following:
The sounding of any horn, bell, or other signal or warning device on any motor vehicle, motorcycle, bus or other vehicle, except as a danger or warning signal.
The unreasonable discharge into the open air of the exhaust of any steam engine, stationary internal combustion engine, motor vehicle or motor boat engine.
The use of any mechanical device operated by compressed air (excluding a jackhammer operated on weekdays between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.) unless the noise created thereby is effectively muffled and reduced.
The creation of a loud and excessive noise in connection with the loading or unloading of any vehicle or the opening and destruction of bales, boxes, crates and containers.
The making of any unnecessary noise by a person or by his operation of any instrument, device, agency or vehicle, and/or the performance of any construction or demolition activity or the operation of any mechanical, electrical, pneumatically, hydraulically powered or battery operated apparatus used in connection with any construction or demolition activity between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. within 500 feet of places of residence and 150 feet of any portion of the grounds and premises on which is located a hospital or other institution reserved for the sick, aged or infirm, or within 150 feet of any school, courthouse, church or building in which religious services are held, during school hours, hours of holding court or hours of public worship, respectively.
We citizens of West Park do have rights. We have the right to be protected from those who wish to ignore the law by disturbing the peace. We citizens of West Park pay property taxes and we expect nothing less that the laws be enforced.
Here is a list of penalties that can be given out for breaking Cleveland’s noise ordinances:
Whoever violates any of divisions (b)(1) through (b)(8) of this section is guilty of making unnecessary noise, a minor misdemeanor, and shall be fined pursuant to Section 601.99, which fine shall not be suspended, waived or otherwise reduced.
Whoever violates this section within twelve (12) hours of having been charged with the minor misdemeanor of making unnecessary noise or of having been warned by a police officer to desist from making unnecessary noise is guilty of making unnecessary noise, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree, and shall be fined pursuant to Section 601.99 which fine shall not be suspended, waived, or otherwise reduced.
Whoever violates divisions (b)(9) or (b)(10) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree and shall be fined pursuant to Section 601.99 upon a first offense, which fine shall not be suspended, waived, or otherwise reduced, and subject to up to 30 days in jail.
Whoever violates division (b)(9) or (b)(10) of this section, upon any subsequent offense, or within 36 hours of having been warned by a police officer to desist from violating one of these sections, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree and shall be fined pursuant to Section 601.99, which fine shall not be suspended, waived, or otherwise reduced, and subject to up to 60 days in jail. Each day upon which a violation occurs or continues shall be a separate and punishable offense.
Of course all of this information is provided for the citizens of West Park who are being directly affected by the construction being done by Fairview Hospital. Councilman, Martin Keane has stated to me that if the Clinic is allowing their construction crews to disturb my peace after hours that I should call the police department. I would suggest to my neighbors that if you are disturbed by construction activities after hours that you make a noise of your own by contacting the police, the councilman and all the news outlets you can.
When doing so, keep a written record of whom you called and when you called. Keep a written record of every time your peace has been disturbed by the construction activities of the Cleveland Clinic and Fairview Hospital. Feel free to post your record in the comments section of this page that you have in fact lodged complaints with the authorities and media. I will make sure it gets posted on the website for your neighbors to see.
Cleveland Police First District – (216) 623-5100
Councilman Martin Keane – (216) 664-4239
WOIO Channel 19 Assignment Desk
(216)-367-7300
Email: 19tips@woio.com
Carl Monday – (216) 367-7311
Email: carlmonday@19actionnews.com
News Channel 5
Got a problem? Need help getting answers?
Put our Investigative Team to work for you.
We'll help you get answers!
Click for News Net 5 Investigators
Channel 3 News
The Investigator wants to hear from you. If you know of corruption, government waste, consumer fraud or wrongdoing, please contact Tom Meyer at 216-344-3464
Email: tommeyer@wkyc.com
Not only has the construction continued past 7:00pm, it begins before 7:00am. Construction seems to start before or at 6:00am. The same situation is also happening on West 179th street as well.
West Park residents living near Fairview Hospital have been subjected to the constant noise of construction vehicles, backup beepers, horns blowing, workers yelling and swearing, diesel generators running through out the night, construction vehicles idling next to houses while they wait to enter the construction site, exhaust fumes etc. sometimes at all hours through the night.
I am giving notice to the Cleveland
In case Cleveland Clinic’s officials are unaware of what the laws are concerning construction noise, here they are in black and white. Please pass this on to your construction crews:
In case Cleveland Clinic’s officials are unaware of what the laws are concerning construction noise, here they are in black and white. Please pass this on to your construction crews:
No person shall make, or cause, suffer, allow, or permit to be made within the City any unreasonably loud, disturbing and unnecessary noise, or noises of such character, intensity or duration as to be detrimental to the life and health of any individual, or unreasonably disturb the quiet, comfort, or repose of neighboring inhabitants.
Loud, disturbing and unnecessary noises in violation of this section shall include without limitation the following:
The sounding of any horn, bell, or other signal or warning device on any motor vehicle, motorcycle, bus or other vehicle, except as a danger or warning signal.
The unreasonable discharge into the open air of the exhaust of any steam engine, stationary internal combustion engine, motor vehicle or motor boat engine.
The use of any mechanical device operated by compressed air (excluding a jackhammer operated on weekdays between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.) unless the noise created thereby is effectively muffled and reduced.
The creation of a loud and excessive noise in connection with the loading or unloading of any vehicle or the opening and destruction of bales, boxes, crates and containers.
The making of any unnecessary noise by a person or by his operation of any instrument, device, agency or vehicle, and/or the performance of any construction or demolition activity or the operation of any mechanical, electrical, pneumatically, hydraulically powered or battery operated apparatus used in connection with any construction or demolition activity between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. within 500 feet of places of residence and 150 feet of any portion of the grounds and premises on which is located a hospital or other institution reserved for the sick, aged or infirm, or within 150 feet of any school, courthouse, church or building in which religious services are held, during school hours, hours of holding court or hours of public worship, respectively.
We citizens of West Park do have rights. We have the right to be protected from those who wish to ignore the law by disturbing the peace. We citizens of West Park pay property taxes and we expect nothing less that the laws be enforced.
Here is a list of penalties that can be given out for breaking Cleveland’s noise ordinances:
Whoever violates any of divisions (b)(1) through (b)(8) of this section is guilty of making unnecessary noise, a minor misdemeanor, and shall be fined pursuant to Section 601.99, which fine shall not be suspended, waived or otherwise reduced.
Whoever violates this section within twelve (12) hours of having been charged with the minor misdemeanor of making unnecessary noise or of having been warned by a police officer to desist from making unnecessary noise is guilty of making unnecessary noise, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree, and shall be fined pursuant to Section 601.99 which fine shall not be suspended, waived, or otherwise reduced.
Whoever violates divisions (b)(9) or (b)(10) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree and shall be fined pursuant to Section 601.99 upon a first offense, which fine shall not be suspended, waived, or otherwise reduced, and subject to up to 30 days in jail.
Whoever violates division (b)(9) or (b)(10) of this section, upon any subsequent offense, or within 36 hours of having been warned by a police officer to desist from violating one of these sections, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree and shall be fined pursuant to Section 601.99, which fine shall not be suspended, waived, or otherwise reduced, and subject to up to 60 days in jail. Each day upon which a violation occurs or continues shall be a separate and punishable offense.
Of course all of this information is provided for the citizens of West Park who are being directly affected by the construction being done by Fairview Hospital. Councilman, Martin Keane has stated to me that if the Clinic is allowing their construction crews to disturb my peace after hours that I should call the police department. I would suggest to my neighbors that if you are disturbed by construction activities after hours that you make a noise of your own by contacting the police, the councilman and all the news outlets you can.
When doing so, keep a written record of whom you called and when you called. Keep a written record of every time your peace has been disturbed by the construction activities of the Cleveland Clinic and Fairview Hospital. Feel free to post your record in the comments section of this page that you have in fact lodged complaints with the authorities and media. I will make sure it gets posted on the website for your neighbors to see.
Cleveland Police First District – (216) 623-5100
Councilman Martin Keane – (216) 664-4239
WOIO Channel 19 Assignment Desk
(216)-367-7300
Email: 19tips@woio.com
Carl Monday – (216) 367-7311
Email: carlmonday@19actionnews.com
News Channel 5
Got a problem? Need help getting answers?
Put our Investigative Team to work for you.
We'll help you get answers!
Click for News Net 5 Investigators
Channel 3 News
The Investigator wants to hear from you. If you know of corruption, government waste, consumer fraud or wrongdoing, please contact Tom Meyer at 216-344-3464
Email: tommeyer@wkyc.com
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Greetings
Hello West Park Neighbors,
In case you haven’t heard, Cleveland Clinic CEO and President Dr. Toby Cosgrove, has some big plans to expand Fairview Hospital.
What does this mean for the residents of West Park?
How about helicopters landing on the hospital complete with a helicopter flight path which will affect hundreds of West Park residents; increased traffic; increased noise; demolition of houses on West 179 St. in order to make room for an additional employee parking lot; an added upper deck to the employee lot behind Riveredge Rd; decreasing property values; an interruption of the peace and solitude of our neighborhood.
Perhaps you have heard rumors about Fairview Hospital’s proposed expansion or perhaps you haven’t heard anything at all about the hospital’s future plans.
The purpose of this group is to get the word out to the residents of western West Park and to get the uninformed informed.
Fairview Hospital administrators has already had community meetings over the last year where only a small amount of neighbors have been invited to. Ward 19 Councilman Keane has attended the meetings. Mr. Keane is not only the councilman for the ward; he is also a member of the Fairview Hospital Board.
I encourage all my neighbors to get involved and let Councilman Keane know that you want to be kept informed on this matter as well as having your say.
This group will provide neighbors with information that they may not receive from Fairview Hospital as the hospital only appears to be inviting a small number of neighbors to their neighborhood meeting.
This group will also provide neighbors avenues for them to voice their concerns as well as contact numbers of those involved in Fairview Hospital’s expansion plans.
Fairview hospital is moving quickly to get the required permits and approvals to implement their plans.
As a concerned neighbor myself, I feel that my neighbors of West Park should be made aware of the hospitals plans which will inevitably disturb the peace and solitude of the West Park neighborhood.
What are Fairview Hospital’s plans?
Fairview Hospital wishes to build a multi-level addition on its property. The addition will consist of a new Emergency department and Intensive care unit complete with a helipad on top of the building.
This new edition will replace existing parking space on hospital property just south of the Lorain Ave.
A helipad on top of the new addition is also part of the expansion plan. Patients from all over the region can be easily transported to the new Emergency department and Intensive Care unit. Patients from other Cleveland Clinic health facilities including their Medina Hospital can be easily transported via helicopter to Fairview Hospital.
Fairview Hospital officials at their neighborhood meetings have stated that there are currently less than 50 helicopter transports to Fairview Hospital a year. In case you didn't know, Cleveland Clinic helicopters land in the Metro Parks at Tyler Field. Hospital officials will not give accurate information on how the helicopter traffic will increase once they build their helipad. When asked how many helicopter transports are needed to make your helipad cost effective, hospital officials stated that they did not have that information.
Once the hospital expands spending millions of dollars building their new ER and ICU with the added helipad, hospital officials did state that helicopter traffic would increase to maybe 100 transports a year. It needs to be noted that the Cleveland Clinic also told Medina residents living near Medina Hospital that there would only be maybe 2 transports a day. Now that the helicopters are there, residents are angered as the actual number of helicopter transports are sometimes 8 to 10 in a ten hour period, and they come at all times of the day and night. There will be specific information relating to the Medina residents in this blog.
It is important to note that currently helicopters land in the Cleveland Metropark’s Tyler Field which is located almost a mile away from Fairview Hospital. Once unloaded, patients are transported via ambulance to the hospital. Generally, neighbors living close to the hospital are totally unaware that Fairview Hospital even has helicopter transports as the helicopters land far enough away in the valley that one never hears the noise.
I have included some videos of Cleveland Clinic helicopters taking off and landing to give neighbors a sense of the noise pollution that helicopters generate.
Fairview Hospital is land-locked in a heavily populated part of Cleveland. Again it needs to be stated that those residents who live in West Park pay a lion’s share of property taxes for the city of Cleveland.
Fairview Hospital pays no property taxes to the city of Cleveland due to their non-profit status.
House values have already declined in West Park. Be assured that housing values will continue to drop when the hospital installs their new helipad and flight pattern over the West Park neighborhood. Who would want to buy a house and raise a family next to a helipad? Property taxes is what supports the city infrastructure. Property taxes pay for schools, the police and fire departments and all other city services.
I spoke to one hospital official offering to sell him my house. He replied:
“No, I wouldn’t want to live near a helicopter landing pad.”
Another hospital official stated to me that he used to work close to Metro Health Hospital and could hardly hear the noise from his office. But after inquiring of him concerning the construction of his former office he confirmed that his office building had the typical closed windows. Office buildings are not like houses. I can attest that most homes I have seen in the neighborhood have their windows open when the weather is warm.
If you have concerns, or feel you should have been informed of these major proposed changes to your neighborhood, here is a list of contacts you may find helpful:
Ward 19
Martin J. Keane
Council Phone: (216) 664-4239
council19@clevelandcitycouncil.org
Ward 18
Martin J. Sweeney – Council President
Council Phone: (216) 664-2942
Home: (216) 252-0986
council18@clevelandcitycouncil.org
Mayor Frank G. Jackson
601 Lakeside Ave.
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
http://www.city.cleveland.oh.us/CityofCleveland/Home/contact/mayor
Steve Lorenz
Kamm's Corners Development Corporation
17407 Lorain Ave, Suite 200
Cleveland, OH 44111
216-252-6559
steve.lorenz@kammscorners.com
Fairview Hospital Administration
These are the folks who have been presenting information at the community meetings. Please contact them for more information concerning Fairview Hospital’s expansion and upcoming community meetings.
Jan Murphy - FACHE, President, Fairview Hospital
John C. Mills – Sr. Vice President, Operations, Fairview Hospital
Above can be reached at (216) 476-7000
The head of the Cleveland Clinic:
Delos Cosgrove, M.D. – Cleveland Clinic Chief Executive Officer and President
Cleveland Clinic Main Campus
Mail Code H18
9500 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44195
(216) 444-2300
In case you haven’t heard, Cleveland Clinic CEO and President Dr. Toby Cosgrove, has some big plans to expand Fairview Hospital.
What does this mean for the residents of West Park?
How about helicopters landing on the hospital complete with a helicopter flight path which will affect hundreds of West Park residents; increased traffic; increased noise; demolition of houses on West 179 St. in order to make room for an additional employee parking lot; an added upper deck to the employee lot behind Riveredge Rd; decreasing property values; an interruption of the peace and solitude of our neighborhood.
Perhaps you have heard rumors about Fairview Hospital’s proposed expansion or perhaps you haven’t heard anything at all about the hospital’s future plans.
The purpose of this group is to get the word out to the residents of western West Park and to get the uninformed informed.
Fairview Hospital administrators has already had community meetings over the last year where only a small amount of neighbors have been invited to. Ward 19 Councilman Keane has attended the meetings. Mr. Keane is not only the councilman for the ward; he is also a member of the Fairview Hospital Board.
I encourage all my neighbors to get involved and let Councilman Keane know that you want to be kept informed on this matter as well as having your say.
This group will provide neighbors with information that they may not receive from Fairview Hospital as the hospital only appears to be inviting a small number of neighbors to their neighborhood meeting.
This group will also provide neighbors avenues for them to voice their concerns as well as contact numbers of those involved in Fairview Hospital’s expansion plans.
Fairview hospital is moving quickly to get the required permits and approvals to implement their plans.
As a concerned neighbor myself, I feel that my neighbors of West Park should be made aware of the hospitals plans which will inevitably disturb the peace and solitude of the West Park neighborhood.
What are Fairview Hospital’s plans?
Fairview Hospital wishes to build a multi-level addition on its property. The addition will consist of a new Emergency department and Intensive care unit complete with a helipad on top of the building.
This new edition will replace existing parking space on hospital property just south of the Lorain Ave.
A helipad on top of the new addition is also part of the expansion plan. Patients from all over the region can be easily transported to the new Emergency department and Intensive Care unit. Patients from other Cleveland Clinic health facilities including their Medina Hospital can be easily transported via helicopter to Fairview Hospital.
Fairview Hospital officials at their neighborhood meetings have stated that there are currently less than 50 helicopter transports to Fairview Hospital a year. In case you didn't know, Cleveland Clinic helicopters land in the Metro Parks at Tyler Field. Hospital officials will not give accurate information on how the helicopter traffic will increase once they build their helipad. When asked how many helicopter transports are needed to make your helipad cost effective, hospital officials stated that they did not have that information.
Once the hospital expands spending millions of dollars building their new ER and ICU with the added helipad, hospital officials did state that helicopter traffic would increase to maybe 100 transports a year. It needs to be noted that the Cleveland Clinic also told Medina residents living near Medina Hospital that there would only be maybe 2 transports a day. Now that the helicopters are there, residents are angered as the actual number of helicopter transports are sometimes 8 to 10 in a ten hour period, and they come at all times of the day and night. There will be specific information relating to the Medina residents in this blog.
It is important to note that currently helicopters land in the Cleveland Metropark’s Tyler Field which is located almost a mile away from Fairview Hospital. Once unloaded, patients are transported via ambulance to the hospital. Generally, neighbors living close to the hospital are totally unaware that Fairview Hospital even has helicopter transports as the helicopters land far enough away in the valley that one never hears the noise.
I have included some videos of Cleveland Clinic helicopters taking off and landing to give neighbors a sense of the noise pollution that helicopters generate.
Fairview Hospital is land-locked in a heavily populated part of Cleveland. Again it needs to be stated that those residents who live in West Park pay a lion’s share of property taxes for the city of Cleveland.
Fairview Hospital pays no property taxes to the city of Cleveland due to their non-profit status.
House values have already declined in West Park. Be assured that housing values will continue to drop when the hospital installs their new helipad and flight pattern over the West Park neighborhood. Who would want to buy a house and raise a family next to a helipad? Property taxes is what supports the city infrastructure. Property taxes pay for schools, the police and fire departments and all other city services.
I spoke to one hospital official offering to sell him my house. He replied:
“No, I wouldn’t want to live near a helicopter landing pad.”
Another hospital official stated to me that he used to work close to Metro Health Hospital and could hardly hear the noise from his office. But after inquiring of him concerning the construction of his former office he confirmed that his office building had the typical closed windows. Office buildings are not like houses. I can attest that most homes I have seen in the neighborhood have their windows open when the weather is warm.
If you have concerns, or feel you should have been informed of these major proposed changes to your neighborhood, here is a list of contacts you may find helpful:
Ward 19
Martin J. Keane
Council Phone: (216) 664-4239
council19@clevelandcitycouncil.org
Ward 18
Martin J. Sweeney – Council President
Council Phone: (216) 664-2942
Home: (216) 252-0986
council18@clevelandcitycouncil.org
Mayor Frank G. Jackson
601 Lakeside Ave.
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
http://www.city.cleveland.oh.us/CityofCleveland/Home/contact/mayor
Steve Lorenz
Kamm's Corners Development Corporation
17407 Lorain Ave, Suite 200
Cleveland, OH 44111
216-252-6559
steve.lorenz@kammscorners.com
Fairview Hospital Administration
These are the folks who have been presenting information at the community meetings. Please contact them for more information concerning Fairview Hospital’s expansion and upcoming community meetings.
Jan Murphy - FACHE, President, Fairview Hospital
John C. Mills – Sr. Vice President, Operations, Fairview Hospital
Above can be reached at (216) 476-7000
The head of the Cleveland Clinic:
Delos Cosgrove, M.D. – Cleveland Clinic Chief Executive Officer and President
Cleveland Clinic Main Campus
Mail Code H18
9500 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44195
(216) 444-2300
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