Blackrock Health becomes first hospital group in Ireland to form strategic partnership with Cleveland Clinic
Blackrock Health and Cleveland Clinic have agreed on a partnership which will provide the Irish hospital group with access to Cleveland Clinic’s expertise in clinical and operational excellence, patient safety, quality, patient experience and employee engagement. This is the first time that the prestigious United States medical centre has formed such a relationship with a hospital in the European Union.
Blackrock Health, which unites three of Ireland’s leading private hospitals: Blackrock Clinic, Galway Clinic, Hermitage Clinic and a diagnostic centre Limerick Clinic, has recently been launched with Dr Caroline Whelan appointed as CEO. Cleveland Clinic is a global leader in healthcare and has demonstrated a model of an integrated healthcare delivery system throughout its locations in Cleveland, Ohio; multiple locations in Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Toronto, Canada; and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Earlier this year, Cleveland Clinic opened a hospital in London.
As part of the new partnership, Cleveland Clinic and Blackrock Health have formed a strategic advisory council combining experts from both organisations, with the goal of sharing best practices and identifying opportunities to improve patient care in Ireland. As a first collaborative step, Blackrock Health and Cleveland Clinic will review data and practices relating to safety, patient experience, employee engagement and clinical outcomes at Blackrock, Galway and Hermitage Clinics.
Blackrock Health Consultants will now be able to consult with specialists at Cleveland Clinic on complex patient cases as part of the relationship. They will also have access to Cleveland Clinic’s clinical education and professional development programmes, as will nursing and allied health care professionals.
Caroline Whelan M.Sc., Ph.D. said: “Blackrock Health and Cleveland Clinic are founded on the shared principle of putting patients first. That goal forms the foundation of our partnership to sustain our delivery of world-class clinical care across all of our clinics. For our staff, this also offers many exciting opportunities to learn and collaborate with their counterparts from one of the leading medical centres in the world.”
A team of clinical and operational leaders from Cleveland Clinic has recently visited the Blackrock, Galway and Hermitage Clinics to engage with senior management, clinicians and staff from all parts of the hospitals. The Cleveland Clinic team will work with Blackrock Health to build on the excellent patient care, safety and patient experience already provided by its hospitals.
“Cleveland Clinic has a 100-year history of collaboration and innovation,” said Curtis Rimmerman, M.D., M.B.A. Cleveland Clinic Chair of International Operations. “We look forward to working with Blackrock Health to learn from each other and share best practices. Our goal is working with like-minded organisations to promote excellent patient care and positively impact patients no matter the location.”
Blackrock Health hospitals cared for some 225,000 patients last year. As part of the collaboration with Cleveland Clinic, patients will have access to detailed health information on their condition, treatment options and other considerations prepared by Cleveland Clinic experts.
Chair of Blackrock Health, Bryan Harty said: “Our partnership with Cleveland Clinic will build on the ethos of continuous improvement that all of our staff and the consultants we work with pride themselves upon. This will also underline for all of our patients that their doctor and private hospital places the highest emphasis on excellence in quality, patient safety and patient experience.”
Consultants, nursing and allied healthcare professionals from Blackrock Health will be able to benefit from educational opportunities either at Cleveland Clinic or through distance learning. Additionally, they will have access to best practices and protocols created and used by Cleveland Clinic physicians at its locations worldwide. Other education opportunities will be available for operations and administrative staff.
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