Photo Courtesy of Cleveland Clinic
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A world-renowned hospital in Cleveland and highly-ranked university will play host to the first presidential debate in the vital state of Ohio.
“This is tremendous. This opportunity means so much, not just for our campuses, but it also means a lot for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio,” said an excited Dr. Ben Vinson, provost of Case Western Reserve University.
He says the importance of Ohio, as well as the national focus on health, make Case Western and the Cleveland Clinic the ideal hosts.
“It’s fitting to have it in such a place where all the health disciplines converge. The conversation and also the partnership between one of the nations’s leading hospitals, as well as one of the nation’s top and elite universities, really gives you a chance to really penetrate to the areas of the conversations that are so critical to sustaining our nation,” Vinson said.
Doctor James Merlino is the chief clinical transformation officer at the Cleveland Clinic. He says the Clinic, which already serves as the health security advisor to the Commission on Presidential Debates, was able to pursue a chance to host the debate after the University of Notre Dame, the original host, canceled.
“I think with us being the advisor on health security, it gives us an opportunity to really test-drive what we know we’re going to need to help the commission put in place at the other locations,” said Merlino.
Both Merlino and Vinson agree that this is a great opportunity to show the world how far Cleveland has come.
“We have been hoping for all kinds of impressive events. I think we are more of a destination now than we have been in many, many years,” said Vinson. “And so, this is just another showcase, again, of what we bring to the world, what we bring to our nation.”
The debate is set for September 29. How the stage will be set up and how many people will be allowed inside is still being determined.
