Friday, Feb. 28, 2003 | 10:03 a.m.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and Councilman Lawrence Weekly will be in Ohio on Tuesday and Wednesday trying to persuade leaders of the Cleveland Clinic to open a medical center on city-owned land in downtown Las Vegas.
Goodman has said that he is reserving 21 of the 61 acres of former Union Pacific Railroad property downtown for a site for a Cleveland Clinic academic medical facility, and he hopes next week's trip will help him solidify a deal in principle by April 1.
"I'm hoping that after we meet with (Dr. Floyd Loop, Cleveland Clinic's chief executive officer) he will say what he has said in the past, which is that he shares the same vision," Goodman said. "The next thing would be to bring (the Cleveland Clinic) people out here to look at the site again."
But Cole Hatcher, Cleveland Clinic spokesman, said Thursday that it was premature to comment on the prospect.
The Cleveland Clinic integrates clinical and hospital care with research and physician training. It is the largest employer in the Cleveland region, employing more than 26,000 people.
It also has satellite medical centers in Weston, Fla., and Naples, Fla., but the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported late last year that those centers were not doing well.
The newspaper reported Dec. 8 that the clinic lost $340 million in the stock market during the past two years as a result of an aggressive strategy that invested 60 percent of its equity largely in technology stocks. The strategy had fueled the clinic's growth during the 1990s but backfired when the market fell.
Hatcher would not say whether the financial losses ruled out the possibility of a Las Vegas expansion in the immediate future.
Weekly said he'll be looking for answers in Ohio.
"For us to see it is possible and can be done we need to see the public who utilize it, talk to the workers and find out the pros and cons," Weekly said.
"We have to bring back the vital information and be able to say, 'Here's the benefit to the community.' "
Goodman and Weekly will miss next week's council meeting to make the trip.
A study performed in early 2002 said the city's 61 acres downtown would be a prime location for an academic medical center, residential housing, office space or a performing arts center.
The city's leaders are hoping that their lobbyists in Washington can garner $3 million from the federal government to help with initial costs for an academic medical center.
"(Goodman) has done a good job in building a relationship, getting the people to pay attention and talk," Weekly said. "Some people think he's out of the box, but (people like Goodman) are the ones who are the visionaries."
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