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Hospital Consolidation in Northeast Ohio

In August this year, the Cleveland Clinic announced it was taking full ownership over Akron General's health care system. Hours later, University Hospitals announced a merger with Samaritan Regional Health System in Ashland County. It was the fourth hospital to merge with UH in two years. This trend of consolidation isn't new, but it is transforming the way our health-care industry operates in the region and across the nation. A few decades ago, more than a dozen independent hospitals existed in Northeast Ohio. Now, there are only a few left. On The Sound of Ideas, we'll ask experts in healthcare policy and economics to talk about some of the changes in the healthcare system that are causing smaller hospitals and medical practices to stop being independent. And we'll discuss what these mergers and acquisitions changes mean to you, the patient. 

-Bill Ryan, President & CEO, The Center for Health Affairs

-Matthew E. Levy, MD, President, Academy of Medicine of Cleveland & Northern Ohio  

-Sarah Jane Tribble, Health Reporter, ideastream

-JB Silvers, Professor of Health Care Finance, Case Western Reserve University

-Martin Gaynor, Professor of Economics and Health Policy, Carnegie Mellon University

Rachel is the supervising producer for Ideastream Public Media’s morning public affairs show, the “Sound of Ideas.”