Cleveland Clinic makes major investment to help end hunger
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Cleveland Clinic CEO Tom Mihaljevic speaks on the ethical framework guiding the hospital's commitment to ending hunger. Photo: Sam Allard/Axios
The effort to fight food insecurity locally is getting a big boost.
Driving the news: Cleveland Clinic CEO Tom Mihaljevic announced Friday that the local hospital system would commit $10.5 million over the next five years toward eliminating hunger in the region.
- Mihaljevic appeared at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank's new community resource center alongside Mayor Justin Bibb, Food Bank CEO Kristin Warzocha and other local hospital leaders, all of whom affirmed their commitment to food justice.
Why it matters: 20% of children in Northeast Ohio are food insecure, meaning they don't know where their next meal will come from.
State of play: The Greater Cleveland Food Bank served 400,000 people in the most recent fiscal year, which is more than it served during the height of the pandemic.
- Warzocha has attributed this increased need to the rising cost of living and the expiration of federal pandemic funding that covered SNAP benefits.
What they're saying: "If putting food on the table is a priority for all of us individually," Mihaljevic said, "Why is it not a priority collectively?"
- "There's enough food. The resources are there. All that's required is goodwill and a coordinated effort by those who can make a difference."
What's happening: Due to increasing food insecurity, the local hospital systems are investing in community resources.
- In addition to its financial contribution, the Clinic has partnered with the city on a mixed-used development at East 105th Street that includes a Meijer grocery store. Set to open in January, Meijer will be the first grocery store in the Fairfax neighborhood in nearly 50 years, Mihaljevic said.
- University Hospitals plans to open two new "Food for Life Markets" in Lake County and Richmond Heights in 2024, which offer healthy food alongside clinical care.
Plus: Bibb noted that he'd hired the city's first-ever "food czar" this year to tackle food deserts and other health inequities in the city of Cleveland.
The big picture: 11.5% of Ohio households were food insecure on average between 2020-2022, per new Department of Agriculture data.
- Nationwide food insecurity spiked to 12.8% last year, a level not seen since the U.S. economy was recovering from the Great Recession, Axios' Emily Peck reports.
Of note: Some Cleveland residents have criticized the nonprofit Clinic and UH for not contributing enough to the community.
- The hospital systems own more than $3 billion in property. If they paid annual taxes, they would contribute $84 million and $28 million, respectively.