University Hospitals Creates More Accessible Healthcare and Better Patient Outcomes While Spurring Economic Mobility

As an anchor institution in Northeast Ohio, University Hospitals plays two essential roles: caring for patients and powering the regional economy through jobs.

As one of the region’s largest employers, UH supports more than 32,000 jobs and, through intentional career pathways, expands access to opportunity and advances economic mobility for thousands of residents.

Healthcare is a cornerstone of Cleveland’s economy.

This region has long been recognized as a destination for care, generating billions of dollars in economic activity and supporting thousands of jobs, while also fueling innovation, research, and education. In 2025, 63% of the jobs added were in healthcare, according to data provided by Team NEO, the region’s economic development agency. And as recently reported in Crain’s, 22% of Northeast Ohio’s largest employers operated in the healthcare sector.

This economic impact does not happen by chance, it is the result of sustained, intentional investment in both workforce and innovation.

At UH, those efforts are deeply interconnected: we create jobs not only by delivering care today, but by building the workforce and advancing innovations that will define care in the future.

For example, a regional shortage of nursing faculty has long constrained the pipeline of new nurses. In 2025, UH partnered with Cleveland’s two other major health systems and 16 nursing schools to recruit experienced nurses and train them as adjunct clinical faculty, expanding education slots and strengthening the pipeline.

Through our nationally recognized workforce development model, we connect residents to meaningful healthcare careers. Our “outside-in/inside-up” approach removes barriers to employment, creates pathways into UH, and provides opportunities for advancement.

Our “Earn and Learn” apprenticeships combine paid, hands-on experience with education and career development support, enabling participants to build clinical skills while sustaining themselves financially.

For current employees, our Pathway Program supports non-credentialed caregivers with coaching, job shadowing, and professional development. Tuition assistance enables employees to pursue degrees and certifications, fueling upward mobility within UH and beyond.

Investing in education — not only for nurses but for dozens of other jobs — pharmacy techs, respiratory therapists, sleep techs, and medical assistants — is not only about filling open positions. These efforts strengthen the workforce, improve patient outcomes, and expand economic opportunity across our communities.

As UH marks its 160th anniversary, we are building on a decade of growth and advancing innovation that expands access to care, strengthens our regional impact, and creates new capabilities, investment, and jobs across Northeast Ohio.

Through our partnership with Creative Destruction Lab and Case Western Reserve University, we are launching a globally-sourced tech innovation accelerator focused on healthcare delivery. This places Northeast Ohio among leading academic and entrepreneurial ecosystems and positions UH as a living laboratory where new technologies can be tested and scaled in real-world clinical environments.

In parallel, we are expanding research capabilities. The newly completed Wesley Center for Immunotherapy at UH Seidman Cancer Center strengthens our leadership in cellular therapies and advances lifesaving discovery.

We are also investing in collaboration. The future Wolstein Center at UH Cleveland Medical Center will serve as a hub for conferences, education, and clinical dialogue, bringing together healthcare leaders, educators, and innovators to accelerate progress.

Additionally, we’ve expanded our partnership with Northeast Ohio Medical University through the Center for Artificial Intelligence & Digital Experience (AIDE). This initiative brings together clinical care, education, and research to develop human-centered AI solutions to complex problems — improving care delivery while creating new opportunities for education, training, and workforce development within the Cleveland Innovation District.

Importantly, this work extends beyond UH. Through AIDE, we are helping establish a regional ecosystem for responsible, human-centered AI by bringing together clinicians, researchers, educators, and industry partners to accelerate discovery, improve care, and expand access.

The Cleveland Innovation District — a $500 million public-private partnership among Northeast Ohio’s major health systems, Cleveland State University, and Case Western Reserve University — also supports NeuroNEO, an initiative accelerating diagnostics and treatments for stroke and neurodegenerative disease, further connecting innovation directly to patient health outcomes. This is a key component of a statewide effort to promote a unified Ohio Discovery Corridor brand and value proposition to startups and other external organizations seeking to build the next generation of healthcare and wellness products while calling Cleveland home.

Ultimately, each of these efforts is grounded in a simple goal: b