Cleveland Clinic projects updated

An artist rendering of the Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital, cancer center and parking garage. The hospital’s expansion, which includes a new cancer center and office building, is set to open in the second quarter. The parking garage is scheduled for completion in 2028.

Cleveland Clinic CEO and President Dr. Tom Mihaljevic provided an update on many of the hospital system’s construction projects during his annual State of the Clinic address.

“We will never stop searching for opportunities to sustain our mission,” Mihaljevic said. “Every life deserves access to the best treatments available. Cleveland Clinic will continue to grow across regions, markets and specialties.”

Work performed at the Cleveland Clinic is done under a Project Labor Agreement.

In his address, Mihaljevic said work has finished on one major project but continues on several other main campus projects. The Cole Eye Center is complete, he said, as the facility will now set the new standard for eye care and research.

The roughly $180 million project included construction of a new 150,000-square-foot building and the renovation of the existing 130,000-square-foot Cole Eye Institute building, originally constructed in 1999.

The new facility features an ophthalmic surgical center with 12 operating rooms, three refractive surgery procedure rooms and 50 eye exam rooms.

Building trades members also reached a milestone on the Neurological Building, which is now fully enclosed.

The 1-million-square-foot structure will include inpatient and outpatient care, along with imaging and surgical services and research laboratories to investigate the function of the human brain and innovation labs to develop the neurological treatments of tomorrow.

The facility’s first patient is expected in January 2027, Mihaljevic said.

Construction on the Innovation District will be completed in the first quarter, maintaining the health system’s position at the forefront of scientific discoveries.

Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary/Business Manager Dave Wondolowski said the big three projects – Cole Eye Center, Innovation District and Neurological Building – created about 2,500 jobs for affiliated members.

Pending recommendations from an upcoming consultation site visit with the American College of Surgeons, the Cleveland Clinic plans could include expanding the Main Campus Emergency Department to accommodate a new trauma center.

Over the next two years, the Cleveland Clinic will work with local government, community leaders, accreditation and certification organizations and various internal departments to prepare for and establish a Level One Trauma Center, with the goal of opening in 2028.

The Cleveland Clinic currently operates a Level I trauma center at Akron General Hospital and Level II trauma centers at Hillcrest, Fairview and Mercy hospitals for adult patients.

Away from the main campus, construction is underway on the $265 million Fairview Hospital expansion project.

Affiliated members of the Cleveland Building Trades are building a new cancer center and medical office building, set to open in the second quarter of 2026. A new parking garage will open in 2028.

The cancer center and medical office building will be approximately 168,000 square feet, and the parking garage will be 340,000 square feet with 995 spaces.

The new cancer center will replace the existing Moll Cancer Center, which will remain open during construction but be demolished upon completion.

The Fairview project will also include the construction of a new pedestrian bridge connecting new buildings to the existing hospital.

In downtown Cleveland, journeymen and apprentices are busy building the Global Peak Performance Center.

A collaboration between the Cleveland Clinic and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the facility will be the new home and practice facility for the Cavs.

It will also offer comprehensive patient care to athletes of all sports and levels, with access to state-of-the-art testing and training equipment and world-class experts from a variety of specialties, including sports medicine, cardiology, pulmonology, exercise physiology, neurology, nutrition, psychology and genetics.

The center is set to open in August 2027.

In Avon, the Richard E. Jacobs Campus expansion is being designed, with construction to begin this year. The $340 million project will nearly double the size of the campus.

According to a June 2025 press release, the Avon Hospital expansion will include a bed tower to increase inpatient capacity, new operating rooms, a larger emergency department and additional lab and imaging space.

Opened in 2016 as a five-story, 126-bed facility, the Avon hospital has seen sustained growth in demand for its services over the past nine years.