CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Clinic confirmed Thursday it will receive federal support from a team of approximately 20 military medical professionals. 

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden announced Thursday that six U.S. hospitals will receive a military medical team from the Air Force

  • 20 members of the military medical team expected to work at the Cleveland Clinic's main campus next week

  • The Cleveland Clinic says COVID-19 hospitalizations remain high enough to continue the postponement of elective surgeries

  • The hospital said earlier this week the majority of those in its hospitals are not vaccinated against COVID-19

They will likely begin next week at the main campus, the Cleveland Clinic said.

"We are grateful for the federal support as we continue to face a challenging COVID-19 surge in our Ohio hospitals,” said  Tom Mihaljevic, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic. “The addition of military medical personnel allows us to care for more patients in our community. We continue to urge everyone to take precautions and receive their COVID-19 vaccine, as the majority of our patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated."

The Cleveland Clinic is among six hospitals receiving military medical teams, President Joe Biden announced Thursday. Hospitals in Michigan, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island will also receive teams.

Gov. Mike DeWine has also deployed 2,300 members of the Ohio National Guard to support hospitals.

On Wednesday, the Cleveland Clinic extended its postponement of all nonessential surgeries requiring a hospital bed through Jan. 30.

The pause in nonessential surgeries requiring a hospital bed began last month as COVID-19 cases spiked in northeast Ohio. The Ohio Hospital Association reported 450 COVID-19 hospitalizations in the northeast Ohio region on Nov. 1. By Jan. 5, that number jumped to 1,754. 

But in the week since, hospitalizations in the region have dropped 11%, the OHA reported. The region has also seen a 17% decline in the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units. 

The Cleveland Clinic said Tuesday 75% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, with 87% of those with COVID-19 in the ICU being unvaccinated.

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