Cleveland Clinic Akron General to offer pediatric primary care, specialty services in Akron

The Cleveland Clinic is bringing its specialized medical care for the region's youngest patients to Akron.

Cleveland Clinic Akron General’s Medical Office Building on South Broadway in Akron will open for pediatric primary care services on Monday and specialty services in the coming weeks, hospital spokesman Joe Milicia said.

The hospital system has invested about $3.2 million into the facility, which will have 18 exam rooms and 23 physician providers, Milicia said.

"This will be our southern hub," said Dr. Rita Pappas, interim chief of Cleveland Clinic Children's. She noted that the Akron location is surrounded by Cleveland Clinic Children's pediatric facilities in other Summit County communities, as well as the Cleveland Clinic facility in Jackson Township called Mercy Hospital Internal Medicine and Pediatrics.

During a tour of the pediatric area of the Akron Medical Office Building at 676 S. Broadway, Pappas showed what she highlighted as spacious rooms and computer stations oriented so that patients can see their care providers as they take their medical histories.

According to a news release from the Cleveland Clinic, pediatric specialties provided in the Akron building will include: allergy, cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology/oncology, nephrology, nutrition, primary care, psychiatry, psychology, pulmonology and rheumatology.

All of the services will be outpatient, Pappas said.

Akron Mayor Shammas Malik was among the community leaders at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday to welcome the pediatric services to Akron.

Malik said the facility has "beautiful artwork" and a "calm atmosphere."

Cleveland Clinic Akron General "has really been a pillar of our economy, of our workforce and our health care, taking care of people in our community," Malik said.

Cleveland Clinic Akron General President Dr. Brian Harte said Akron General and the Cleveland Clinic are "certainly proud to be continuing to make investments here in downtown Akron and really throughout Summit County."

"That's one of the pledges we make to our community, is that we are your partners, not only in health care but in employment and raising the bar for all of our families throughout the communities that we serve," Harte said. "Another promise that we make in Cleveland Clinic is that we are here to take care of you and your families out in the community at every stage of your life."

For years, Akron Children's Hospital has controlled the pediatric hospital market in Akron, with Summa and Akron General focusing on adult care. Both of Akron's adult health systems have had contracts with Akron Children's to run the special-care nurseries for newborns who needed a higher level of care but not the more intensive care offered in Children's neonatal intensive-care unit.

But Akron General is now part of the Cleveland Clinic health system, which has its own nationally recognized Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital and a variety of pediatric specialities.

Dr. Jennifer Savitski, chair of Cleveland Clinic Akron General’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said that federal funding stemming from the help of U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, supported moving the Women's Health Center from the South Broadway Street building's second floor to downstairs.

"We were so excited because we provide care to patients who live in the surrounding area that are really impacted by a disparity in outcomes, both for infant mortality as well as for our Black birthing persons," Savitski said. "We know that, of course, outcomes tend to be worse for our Black birthing persons, and we do a lot to mitigate those social determinants of health that impact their outcomes"

The Medical Office Building has been used by Akron General since 2004, Savitski said. That was 11 years before Cleveland Clinic acquired Akron General.

Cleveland Clinic Akron General previously provided COVID-19 testing on the first floor of its Medical Office Building, Pappas said.

The building opened in 1984 as a facility for Health Guard, a health maintenance organization run by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Northern Ohio.

Beacon Journal reporter and history columnist Mark J. Price contributed to this report. He can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com.

Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @pwilliamsOH.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Clinic Akron General to offer pediatric primary care, specialty services in Akron