HURON HOSPITAL (formerly Huron Road Hospital and Meridia Huron Hospital), incorporated on August 6, 1874 and located at 13951 Terrace Road in EAST CLEVELAND, traces its history to the CLEVELAND HOMEOPATHIC HOSPITAL (1856-1917). In 1869, after encountering problems practicing at both St. Vincent de Paul Hospital (see ST. VINCENT CHARITY HEALTH HOSPITAL AND HEALTH CENTER) and the Willson Street Hospital, physicians of HOMEOPATHY bought the Humiston Institute building on the west side for $35,000 and formed the Cleveland Protestant Homeopathic Hospital. The 50-bed facility also served as the Cleveland Homeopathic Hospital College. In 1873 the Board of Trustees bought the former Perry estate on Huron Rd., where the hospital opened. A joint fundraising exhibition of donated art objects and antiques in 1878 raised $12,816 for Huron Rd. and City hospitals. Huron Rd. applied its profits toward construction of a new facility, opened at 750 Huron Rd. on 29 Sept. 1880. The hospital then embarked on a period of growth and controversy. The Cleveland Training School for Nurses was established in 1884, the first nursing school formed west of the Alleghenies. Factionalism within the Cleveland Medical College plagued the homeopaths and the hospital between 1890 and 1922 (when the college closed). During this period, staff members such as Dr. Hamilton F. Biggar cultivated useful ties with wealthy Clevelanders such as JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER.
Internal controversies continued, however. In 1908 nurses went on strike, and the hospital's homeopathic doctors successfully sued the trustees to prevent allopathic doctors from practicing in the facility. Trustees then closed the hospital for repairs in April 1909 and kept it closed until 1911, when negotiations resulted in a dual homeopathic and allopathic staff, which lasted until 1924. At this time hospital trustees sold the Huron Rd. Hospital property to Ohio Bell (see MERIDIA HEALTH SYSTEM), and the hospital was renamed Huron Hospital.
In 1931, work began on a new Huron Hospital in East Cleveland, while the old site was sold to Ohio Bell Telephone Company for their new headquarters. Work was completed in 1935. By 1946, the new hospital had a capacity for 350 beds, and became a critical provider of medical services for East Cleveland and its surrounding areas.
The hospital merged into the Meridia health system in 1984, and was renamed Meridia Huron Hospital. The Cleveland Clinic purchased the Meridia network in 1997, and the hospital became known as Huron Hospital. From 2000 to 2010, population losses in the hospital's area significantly lowered the number of patients who used the facility.
In 2011, the Cleveland Clinic announced it was closing Huron Hospital within 90 days. Meanwhile, a much smaller Huron Community Health Center would open on the hospital campus later that year, but would not offer a maternity ward or trauma services. Civic leaders from Cleveland and East Cleveland subsequently took legal action against the Cleveland Clinic in attempt to keep the facility open. The Cleveland Clinic reached a deal with East Cleveland to provide the city with 20 million dollars to replace payroll tax losses to the city and funds to tear down the hospital.
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