Cleveland Clinic Faces Backlash Over Alleged Woke Agenda in Healthcare

FIRST ON FOX: Consumers’ Research, a prominent non-profit organization dedicated to providing consumer information, is launching a campaign aimed at the Cleveland Clinic. The initiative asserts that the clinic has a history of prioritizing a political agenda over patient care.

The campaign, titled “Cleveland Clinic Exposed,” poses a provocative question to the public: Is Cleveland Clinic the wokest hospital in America? An ad named “Exposed” will premiere during the Cleveland Cavaliers versus Toronto Raptors basketball game on Wednesday in Ohio.

The 30-second advertisement boldly states, “Is Cleveland Clinic the wokest hospital in America? They prioritize care based on skin color. Perform child sex changes. Push transgender propaganda on vulnerable kids. Insert DEI into everything they do.” Additionally, the ad claims that the clinic spends millions on climate activism. “The CEO admits it: Healthcare is only a part of their mission. Cleveland Clinic. Focused on a political agenda. Not what’s best for patients,” the ad concludes.

The campaign will also promote ClevelandClinicExposed.com and will use mobile billboards positioned outside various locations, including the Ohio state capitol building, the Cleveland Clinic main campus, and the Florida state capitol building. A targeted digital advertising initiative, along with a “woke alert,” is part of the campaign’s strategy to encourage the clinic to stop interjecting politics into patient care.

One alert states, “Attention Floridians, Cleveland Clinic opened a sex change clinic in your backyard.” This message signals the organization’s approach to advocating for what they deem to be politically correct healthcare practices.

The advertisement references a letter from the Cleveland Clinic’s CEO, Tom Mihaljevic, which suggests that providing healthcare services is not the only priority of the establishment. In a post on the hospital’s website, Mihaljevic expressed, “Providing high-quality healthcare is only a part of our mission. We have an obligation to uplift the many communities we call home.” He elaborated on the organization’s goals, including improving well-being, quality of life, and opportunities for success, while also emphasizing the importance of operating sustainably and embracing diversity.

Accusations of Wokeness

The Cleveland Clinic has previously faced accusations regarding its alleged promotion of a woke agenda. A complaint from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty accused the clinic of engaging in “race-based discrimination and segregation of patients.” This allegation has drawn public scrutiny and underscored the ongoing debate about the intersection of healthcare and activism.

Moreover, the Cleveland Clinic’s website contains numerous posts championing climate initiatives, including a detailed plan aimed at greening operating rooms. Such actions raise questions about the organization’s priorities in the context of healthcare.

In 2022, the Cleveland Clinic appointed Jacqui Robertson as chief of diversity and inclusion, a move that raised eyebrows among critics. A post announcing her appointment has since been deleted, but it highlighted her role in leading efforts to advance diversity and inclusion across the health system.

In a 2023 interview, Robertson articulated her belief that diversity and inclusion should not operate as standalone strategies but must be integrated into all aspects of organizational processes and performance metrics.

Controversial Statements and Press Releases

In June 2023, the Cleveland Clinic published a post, later removed, providing guidance on how to support children questioning their gender identity. Earlier that month, they released a statement designating racism as a public health crisis.

The Cleveland Clinic has been committed to addressing structural racism and bias within the community. A December 2020 press release revealed the clinic’s intention to join a coalition of 37 large U.S. employers to create one million jobs for Black Americans.

Despite these commitments, a spokesperson for the Cleveland Clinic has firmly pushed back against the current campaign, asserting that it contains false statements and inaccuracies. The spokesperson insisted that the organization’s services are available to everyone and that they do not discriminate based on race, gender, or any other category.

Voices of Concern

In a statement, Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, expressed deep concern about the Cleveland Clinic’s trajectory. He remarked, “By its own shocking words and deeds, Cleveland Clinic has quite possibly become the wokest hospital in America. The clinic’s leadership alarmingly proclaims that DEI has to be embedded in everything that we do. Such a sentiment plagues the entire hospital system and should frighten every patient in need of its services.”

Hild’s comments reflect broader anxieties around the supposed prioritization of ideological commitments over patient care. He noted, “From unethical race-based care to transgender mutilation surgeries on kids, to bowing at the altar of climate extremism, Cleveland Clinic seems hell-bent on satisfying every woke fixation while cost-reduction for patients is a distant afterthought.”

He concluded with a strong call to action: “It is wrong when any company prioritizes woke objectives over its consumers, but it is especially disturbing when the perpetrator is a medical facility servicing patients. Cleveland Clinic must reverse course, shun woke radicalism, stop spending resources in the wrong places, and make affordable quality care its only focus.”