LAKEWOOD HOSPITAL, at 14519 Detroit Avenue, opened in October 1907, the first hospital in the Cleveland SUBURBS. It is a private acute care, community-based, not-for-profit hospital. Lakewood began as a private hospital founded by Dr. C. LEE GRABER and located in a double frame house on Detroit and Belle Avenues, with fifteen beds and three doctors. A modern hospital was built in 1917, with remodeling and additions in 1940, 1950, 1967, and 1970-71.
The City of Lakewood purchased the hospital in 1931; the hospital has again been privately managed between 1986 and 1997. In 2006 it offered 400 beds, a medical staff of 564, and a full and part time staff of 1,060. The Hospital also offered all customary diagnostic and therapeutic services, as well as some specialty services, including Lakewood Hospital Heart Center. In the past, Lakewood sponsored schools of NURSING (1910-37) and practical nursing (1955). The hospital closed its obstetrical-maternity unit in June 1972, but reopened it in 1991 as the Birthing Center, affiliated with Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital of UNIV. HOSPITALS.
In 1987 Lakewood Hospital became a founding member of the University Hospitals Network of affiliates; these connections ceased when the Hospital became part of the Cleveland Clinic Health System. In 2006 the executive director was Fred M. DeGrandis, and Jack Gustin served as chief administrative officer.
In 2016, the Lakewood Hospital was officially shut down, and the buildings were demolished in 2019-2020. As of March 2022, plans for the site included constructing an apartment building and a new headquarters for Roundstone Insurance Company.
See also HOSPITALS AND HEALTH PLANNING.