Case Western Reserve University and The MetroHealth System Continue Affiliation for Another Decade

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and The MetroHealth System today announced an agreement to extend the institutions’ partnership in education and research through June 30, 2031.

The affiliation continues medical students’ clinical learning opportunities within MetroHealth, and includes a shared commitment to identify additional educational options for CWRU’s allied health students within the hospital system. It also signals the hospital’s commitment to increasing its research efforts.

“This agreement expands and strengthens our partnership, for the good of both organizations, and for the benefit of the community,” said MetroHealth President and CEO Akram Boutros, MD, FACHE. “MetroHealth’s transformation will create advanced, engaged, and innovative campus, neighborhoods, research, and teaching programs.”

The new agreement follows last month’s announcement of MetroHealth’s addition to the National Center for Regenerative Medicine, which is based at the university and includes Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals. Four years ago, MetroHealth and CWRU’s dental school launched their own new affiliation to expand research and clinical opportunities for students and residents and expand the hospital’s oral health services.

“This 10-year extension recognizes the strength of our existing collaborations and provides more ways for us to engage with one another,” Case Western Reserve President Eric W. Kaler said. “We look forward to seeing our collective progress in learning and discovery.”

One of the organizations’ most longstanding joint efforts involves the Cleveland FES Center, now a city-wide consortium dedicated to applying electrical signals to the nervous system to enhance patients’ quality of life—for example, by restoring movement to paralyzed muscles. The FES Center also includes the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center and, more recently, University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic.

“MetroHealth has been a key partner for more than 100 years,” said Stan Gerson, Interim Dean of CWRU’s School of Medicine. “This extension not only continues existing collaborations, but opens additional avenues for us to advance medical education and research in ways that ultimately benefit patients. I look forward to seeing how these efforts unfold.”

“This partnership underscores our commitment to educating the next generation of physicians and other health professionals while building upon our groundbreaking research collaboration,” said Bernard Boulanger, MD, MBA, Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer of The MetroHealth System and Professor of Surgery, Senior Associate Dean at the CWRU School of Medicine. “In both education and research, we are working together to help create a better tomorrow.”

One example is a new Affiliation Council of key medical school and hospital leaders charged to identify priority areas for strategic engagement as well as opportunities to provide additional training and professional development for members of groups traditionally underrepresented in medicine.