CLEVELAND – James J. Benedict Jr., has been appointed President of the University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center. The new health care campus, which includes both a hospital and medical office building, is under construction at Chagrin Highlands in Beachwood and scheduled to open in early 2011.
In his new role, Mr. Benedict will be responsible for assembling and leading a team to achieve the University Hospitals vision for providing Cleveland’s eastern and southeastern suburban population with enhanced access to advanced medical, surgical and emergency services. He currently oversees the overall operational planning for the $230.5 million health care campus.
“Since joining University Hospitals, Jim has played a vital role in the dramatic growth and financial success of our health system,” said Achilles Demetriou, MD, PhD, President, University Hospitals. “The UH Ahuja Medical Center will provide state-of-the-art health care services for our patients in the surrounding communities and will flourish under Jim’s leadership.”
Mr. Benedict has more than 20 years of comprehensive health care experience in physician practice development, acquisition and growth strategies for physician specialty networks, hospital management and development of large-scale construction projects. He has been Senior Vice President of Ambulatory Operations and Community Hospital Planning at UH since 2006. Under his leadership, University Hospitals has expanded its ambulatory centers to many communities including Twinsburg, Mayfield Village, Hudson, Mantua and Sharon Twp. He has been an integral part of the team which planned, designed and constructed the UH Concord Health Center, which opens in early July, and UH Medina Health Center, scheduled to open in early 2010.
Mr. Benedict joined UH in 2004 as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Operations at UH Case Medical Center from MetroHealth, where he was Vice President of Medical Operations. Prior to MetroHealth, Mr. Benedict spent 13 years at Cleveland Clinic Foundation in various leadership roles. He earned a JD from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and was admitted to the bar in Ohio in 1996. He is also a CPA and earned a Master of Accounting and Financial Information Systems from Cleveland State University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Baldwin-Wallace College.
“It is my privilege to serve every day with the talented physicians, nurses, healthcare professionals and employees of the UH family,” said Mr. Benedict. “Our health system continues to grow throughout Northeast Ohio and the UH Ahuja Medical Center will enable us to better serve our patients. The new health care campus will focus on unparalleled service excellence, superior clinical outcomes, and exceptional satisfaction among patients, physicians, nurses and all employees.”
The UH Ahuja Medical Center is named in honor of Monte and Usha Ahuja and their family for their extraordinary generosity. The Ahuja family has committed $30 million to University Hospitals, the largest gift in the health system’s history. The first phase of the UH Ahuja Medical Center is a 60,000-square-foot medical office building and a 144-bed hospital, with the potential to expand to a total capacity of 600 beds over three phases. Primary and secondary care services will include general medical and surgical care, minimally invasive surgery, cardiology, neurology, orthopaedics, gastroenterology, pediatric outpatient surgery, state-of-the-art diagnostics and emergency care for adults and children.
Functioning under an open medical staff model, the UH Ahuja Medical Center will have tertiary care support from University Hospitals Case Medical Center. An electronic medical record system will be fully operational when the facility opens.
"I also would like to express my gratitude to the Ahuja family whose extraordinary gift made the creation of this innovative facility a reality," added Mr. Benedict.
The UH Ahuja Medical Center is a key component of UH’s $1.2 billion Vision 2010 strategic plan, which includes the future UH Cancer Hospital and Center for Emergency Medicine, both at UH Case Medical Center, as well as the recently opened Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, which was recently ranked as the number two NICU in the nation. Vision 2010 represents a major contribution to the region’s economic health and is expected to create about 2,000 new hospital-based jobs and more than $500 million in salaries, wages and benefits.
The hospital complex has been designed with input from physicians, nurses, patients, employees and community leaders to ensure a patient, family, and staff-friendly healing environment for the delivery of personalized patient services in an efficient manner. A recent winner of the Modern Healthcare Design Award in the “unbuilt” category, the complex will offer wireless communications technology and feature many amenities to ensure patient and family-centered care. The structure will feature eco-friendly materials and processes to minimize energy costs and impact on the environment. As part of the environmentally sensitive design, the grounds surrounding the UH Ahuja Medical Center development will feature bio-swells to filter, collect and redistribute water back into the site.