Anchors Aweigh For Cleveland Clinic Docs: They'll Be Stars Of Luxury Cruises

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- The ships will be sailing everywhere from the South Seas to South America. Six Cleveland Clinic doctors have been signed as star attractions to offer medical insights aboard luxury cruises this year, and the physicians are being headlined as luminaries from "one of the nation's most respected academic medical research centers." Among destinations the luxury line Crystal Cruises says it will be voyaging to are Papeete and New Zealand. Apparently, physicians are going to play the roles that authors, lecturers, sports figures and actors have played as featured attractions to lure the posh set aboard.

The six docs are David Sholitin, former director of the Clinic's Cole Eye Institute; Fredrick Wilson director of the back and neck center in Solon' Margaret McKenzie, obstetrician-gynecologist and women's health expert; Lesie Cho, cardiologist and director of the Women's Cardiovascular Center; Wael Barsoum, surgeon and Vice Chair of the Orthopedic and Rheumatologic Institute, and Donald Malone, psychiatrist who will hold forth on wellness of mind, body and spirit.

This is the kind of crew that, perhaps, can generate international buzz and help Cleveland shake its image as forlorn manufacturing town. The luxury line's presser about the docs is here, and it describes the voyages as a kind of floating spa with fares starting at $2,9995 per person.

Pakistan's Musharraf And The Cleveland Clinic: They Use The Same D.C. Lobbyist

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- Pakistani strongman Gen. Pervez Musharraf suspended the Constitution and declared martial law in a desperate effort to hang onto power in an increasingly unstable Muslim nation that has a small stockpile of atomic weapons. Those events are unfolding a long way from Ohio. But the general's military government does have something in common with several important institutions in this state --it uses the same D.C. lobbying firm, Van Scoyoc Associates Inc. Van Scoyoc registered as a foreign agent for Pakistan and was paid $310,000 for the first six months of 2006, federal records show.

There is another interesting tie between Van Scoyoc and Ohio: U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette's spouse, Jennifer, is a lobbyist with the company that represented Pakistan. Her name turns up on the company's list of employees here.

The Northeast Ohio Republican, R-14, could find himself in an awkward political spot if the U.S. government cuts off Musharraf, an ally in the war on terror whose declaration of martial law Sunday defied the Bush administration. Washington has sent Pakistan about $10 billion in military aid since 2001, and had been urging Musharraf to move towards democracy. Instead, the general went the other way and began jailing political opponents.

The lobbying firm's Ohio clients are blue chip as this list shows. It includes Bowling Green State University, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation Inc., Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, Hiram College, the University of Akron and the University of Toledo.

Musharraf's government hired Van Scoyoc for legal and other services. The firm reported that it "monitored, advised and evaluated legislative issues and arranged meetings with U.S. Government officials to discuss issues affecting the Government of Pakistan."
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In Cleveland, Bush Warned Of Veto On Expanding Kids' Insurance

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- And now the White House has confirmed that President Bush intends to veto a push by Congress that would increase spending for the Children's Health Insurance Program, a proposed expansion covering far more than the current 8 million kids. Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, said in a statement this weekend that Bush's senior advisers are "certainly going to recommend" a veto and "there is no question that the president would veto it."

A jump to $1 in the U.S. tax on a pack of cigarettes -- now at 39 cents a pack --would help pay for the federal CHIP expansion. The White House objects to tax hikes.

Bush was in Ohio last week and toured the Cleveland Clinic, a trip designed to shore up his image as a chief executive concerned about the nation's health care system. But he dropped a clear hint that the bipartisan efforts in the Senate to expand CHIP would be met with opposition at the White House.

"The program is going beyond the initial intent of helping poor children. It's now aiming at encouraging more people to go on government health care. It's a way to encourage people to transfer from the private sector to government health-care plans. I think it's wrong and I think it's a mistake."

The Senate hopes to increase CHIP spending by $35 billion, to about $60 billion by 2012. There are estimates the expansion of the program would cut the number of uninsured children by 4.1 million. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, and says the program needs more funds.

"After a successful 10-year history, the CHIP program is up for reauthorization this year. This year, the program will be reauthorized. I know Montana and other states need more funds. Without additional funds by 2010, I am told Montana will have to trims its CHIP enrollment from 13,900 to 8,000 or 9,000. We cannot afford to lose ground in our fight to get kids health coverage. As Chair of the Finance Committee, I will work with my colleagues to develop a reauthorization plan that full funds CHIP going forward and work to cover more eligible by unenrolled kids."

Baucus also gave a statement to the The New York Times, "The president should stop playing politics and start working with Congress to help kids through renewal of this program."

UPDATE: 9:58 am EDT -- In Ohio, there has been agreement already at the state level between Republicans and Democrats that all kids should have health coverage. It is in the new budget that went into effect earlier this month. Here's what Gov. Ted Strickland said in Youngstown just the other day (according to the Vindicator):

"Strickland, who formerly represented part of Mahoning County and all of Columbiana County in Congress, began his presentation at Tod Hall by discussing changes that will be made in the Ohio Children's Health Insurance Program. These will allow children whose families have incomes up to 300 percent of the poverty level to qualify for health insurance.

A family of four at 300 percent of the poverty level would have a family income of $61,650, according to 2007 figures. 'For the first time in Ohio history, I think we can now say as a result of this budget all children in Ohio will have access to affordable health care coverage,' Strickland said.

Children whose family income exceeds 300 percent of the poverty level but have catastrophic health conditions that make it difficult or impossible for them to get health insurance on the private market will be able to buy into the Medicaid program, he said.

'Thousands of children will be covered now,' he said.
As of May, 32 states and the District of Columbia had enacted or announced coverage initiatives for children, according to the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured."

Ohio Is Wally's World: Wal-Mart Now State's Largest Employer

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Not long before Gov. Ted Strickland was sworn into office in January, outgoing Republicans compiled data that ranked Ohio's biggest private sector employers. Wal-Mart finished way atop the list. With some 50,000 Ohioans on its payroll, the discount chain now dwarfs every other enterprise operating in the state.

"Wal-Mart (1) with approximately 160 retail operations and multiple distribution centers has the largest employment headcount (50,000) of Ohio's Pirvate Sector Employers. While many of its employees are part time, Wal-Mart's presence is felt in every community across the state."

That is the word from the Ohio Department of Development's office of strategic research, which filed its report last December. Nothing in Ohio approaches the size of Wal-Mart. To get an idea of its sheer enormity: Add everybody working at Honda, the Japanese automaker with extensive operations across the state, to everybody working at the Cleveland Clinic Health System, and the total about equals Wal-Mart's. Tokyo-based Honda is Ohio's 12th largest employer; the Clinic is No. 2.

The state report is HERE. What is interesting about Ohio now is that not a single manufacturer remains in the top five in a state that prospered on a smokestack economy. Ohio State University, No. 5, has more employees than any automaker, including General Motors Corp, No. 7; Honda, No. 12, and Ford, No. 18.

Here are the Top 10:

1.Wal-Mart, 50,000, Bentonville, Ark., retail general merchandise.
2. Cleveland Clinic Health System 34,800, Cleveland, health.
3. Kroger Co., 34,130, Cincinnati, retail food stores.
4. University Hospitals Health System, 25,000, Cleveland, health.
5. Ohio State University, 24,400, Columbus, education and health.
6. Catholic Healthcare Partners, 23,000, Cincinnati, health.
7. General Motors Corp., 19,300, Detroit, manufacture motor vehicles.
8. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, 18,250, Dayton, government Air Force base.
9. General Electric Co., 17,000, Fairfield, Conn., manufacture electrical/aerospace equipment.
9. JP Morgan Case & Co., 17,000, New York, finance bank.
11. Meijer Inc., 16,500, Grand Rapids, Mi., retail general merchandise.

Akron's Hospitals: Shrinking As Cleveland's Expand?

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- An organization that monitors the health care industry sees trouble brewing for Akron's hospitals as rivals The Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals move forward with expansion plans. HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a Nashville firm that provides industry market intelligence, said population growth in NE Ohio is stagnant, which opens the door to the likelihood the Cleveland rivals will soon attempt to siphon business away from Akron. In other words, a squeeze appears in the offing. The market intelligence firm uses another description: A disruption in the existing hospital balance.

Its latest Cleveland Market Overview, summarized below by the company, says both the Clinic and University are undertaking billion-dollar-plus campaigns for new hospital facilities and expansion and renovation plans:

"The U.S. Census Bureau has projected that the city of Cleveland's population would fall below 400,000 in 2007," states Mark Cherry, HealthLeaders-InterStudy market analyst and author of the report. "However, both health systems are hoping to make the city a medical destination and attract patients from outside the immediate area."

"The most surprising building announcement was that of University Hospitals' new 200-bed hospital near Beachwood in an area of eastern Cuyahoga County that has been largely undeveloped. Expandable by up to 600 beds, University Hospitals' officials contend that the eastern suburbs need an acute-care hospital to serve the area's aging baby boomer population,and northern Summit County's affluent population growth. Though the two major health systems in the Akron market, Summa HealthSystem and Akron General Medical Center, have had affiliations with their Cleveland Clinic counterparts, they have enjoyed relative anonymity that may be lost if the rivalry between the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals spills into Summit County. University Hospitals' proposed Beachwood facility has the greatest chance of disrupting the boundaries between the Cleveland and Akron areas, and will draw people from the eastern suburbs in greater numbers than the existing small community hospitals in the area."

(Market Overviews provide a detailed analysis of local healthcare markets, allowing healthcare businesses to plan local strategies.)