Note: this editorial was published in the September 28, 2021 edition of the Toledo Blade.
Just a little more than a year ago, the fate of University of Toledo Medical Center was uncertain at best. Facing steep financial losses and large budget deficit forecasts, University of Toledo officials announced in April, 2020, that they planned to request bids from parties interested in buying, leasing, or managing the medical center.
Flash forward to September, 2021, and the same University of Toledo trustees are now reporting that instead of the predicted $14 million deficit, UTMC ended its fiscal year roughly $4 million ahead.
UTMC’s financial officer called the turnaround “profound.” It certainly is that. Also, it is a testament to the power of community activism.
University trustees reviewing the good financial news pointed to UTMC’s recent partnership with the Toledo Clinic, along with marketing and operating improvements, improved results and additional revenue for the turnaround.
All of those factors added up to a successful strategy for UTMC, but another essential element was the work of a community group determined to keep a community hospital in South Toledo.
From the moment UT announced it would consider proposals to potentially sell the hospital, neighbors sprung into action and persistently pressured University of Toledo leaders and elected leaders to not only save UTMC, but restore it.
The only certain bidder interested in taking over UTMC operations was ProMedica, which the neighborhood supporters blamed substantially for the financial troubles at the hospital. The health-care system’s 5-year-old affiliation agreement with the medical college had siphoned off students, residents, medical staff, and patients, all of which drained UTMC.
The Save UTMC Coalition pressured UT to amend its bylaws and allow non-faculty physicians to bring some services back to the South Toledo hospital. It also pushed back against the school’s affiliation with ProMedica, and asked state legislators to halt a potential sale of UTMC.
By July, the university announced it was no longer considering proposals to purchase, lease, or manage the UTMC. Instead, university officials said they would instead focus on stabilizing the former Medical College of Ohio hospital’s finances.
And while financial challenges remain — many of them exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic — UTMC’s circumstances are dramatically improved. The hospital and university officials who worked to right the financial ship deserve much credit.
The neighbors who banded together and refused to give up a vital community asset deserve credit too. Their committed activism has made Toledo a better place.