CLEVELAND — You might think that since taking the oath of office three weeks ago, Ohio's newest U.S. Senator JD Vance has been stuck in Washington learning the ins and outs of the upper chamber but that's not the case.
What that time has allowed him to do though is to begin the process of getting to know better the state's greatest assets that he will be called upon to represent in Washington, places like the Cleveland Clinic. Yes, he knows its place as one of the world's greatest hospitals but this day was about seeing what they do, what they need and how he can help.
The Cleveland Clinic is Ohio's largest employer, growth fueled in part by the passing of the Affordable Care Act more than a decade ago and the expansion of Medicaid in states like Ohio that came along with it. The Clinic has grown from just over 39,300 employees in 2012 to 56,986 today, a 45% increase.
"Look, I think we definitely need healthcare reform in this country I mean talking to people just inside its really clear that a lot of these hospitals, a lot of great providers including the Cleveland Clinic are really getting squeezed. A lot of healthcare facilities across our state are losing money and that's a problem that we have to work on," he said.