The Cleveland Clinic was formed in 1921 in Cleveland, Ohio, by a group of 4 doctors who had worked in the Battlefields in World War One.
Over 100 years ago, they chose to create an organisation that was summed up by the acronym TCC (Interesting and coincidental).
They chose a value-based organisation.
They chose a not-for-profit.
They chose a place with the mantra, 'Patients first,' which was centred around patient care, research, and education, and then they set about building it.
Seven years into their time, it burned down in an enormous tragedy, only to rise like a phoenix from the flames to be something better, bigger, and more wonderful.
I chose to come to the Cleveland Clinic in London to have the surgery on my knee by accident. I came because Kevin Holleron came here, I came for Professor Justin Cobb, I came almost in spite of what I thought it was until I came and saw it, read about it, and realised why it was what it was.
The values of the Cleveland Clinic are entirely clear, and they shine out brightly, not just in the facility itself (which doesn't matter so much) but through every single person you meet here, which is truly extraordinary.
I would spend the last hour or so of my time here (My care has been so good that I get to leave early) constructing an email to the general manager and the head doctor to say thank you to all the people who looked after me.
They talk to you about their values, why they work here, and why it's so special.
I spoke to people from Poland, from Portugal, from Gambia, from Cleveland itself, from Georgia and the United States, a truly multicultural collection of people who give a sh*t about looking after people.
They only work here because they give a sh*t.
When I arrived on the first day, I was packing my stuff away and couldn't close the safe properly.
I asked the porter who came in to take me to the theatre if he could help me close the safe, and he looked at me and said, "You don't need a safe; nobody in here would steal anything".
He was right; it was true; everybody was there for a reason.
It's a truly extraordinary place that was envisaged over 100 years ago by four physicians, who then went on to create a legacy way past them, way beyond them, which is extraordinary.
The trust that looks after the Cleveland Clinic invested 1.5 billion pounds to construct this clinic in the middle of London, in the most beautiful building, which, from the fifth floor, overlooks the gardens of Buckingham Palace.
I came here for the surgeon himself, trusting the fact that he would have constructed around him a team that would be able to help him do his work as well as possible, I found it. I paid for my treatment here (I have no health insurance), it's a shit ton of money, and I understand how massively privileged I am to be able to do that.
While I was here, I investigated what it would have cost me to go to the Spire Hospital in Nottingham (an altogether totally different experience). Cleveland Clinic is cheaper; it's less expensive than the shareholder-driven production line that is the Spire in Nottingham.
The Spire is very good compared to what you might get in an NHS hospital, which is so stretched and where everyone is hardworking but hard worked, but the Cleveland Clinic is entirely in a different league.
If you're considering private medicine or private healthcare, you can request it through your healthcare provider, you can also pay as you go here and contact them directly.
If you're having a consultation with someone about something, think about it.
I get the train from Newark and London. It's about five tube stops, and you're there; you get the chance to walk out through the park and come to the clinic.
Nobody wants to come and have sh*t like this done, but if you're going to go somewhere, you really should come here.
Maybe one day TCC (United Kingdom) will be something like TCC (Cleveland).
Blog Post Number - 4157
Leave a comment