Summa Health System Joins BioEnterprise Initiative
Cleveland, OH, November 2004 – Summa Health System, the largest healthcare provider in the Akron area, has joined the BioEnterprise Board of Directors.
Thomas J. Strauss, President and Chief Executive Officer of Summa, will represent the organization on the BioEnterprise Board.
Summa Health System is consistently ranked among the top U.S. health systems in a range of specialty areas and has long been a leader in clinical trials.
"We are pleased to team with Summa. Summa Health System and its Summa Enterprise Group have a demonstrated commitment to excellence and innovation. Through this arrangement, we gain a valuable partner, and we also expand the BioEnterprise Initiative,” said outgoing BioEnterprise Chairman Edward Hundert, M.D., President of Case Western Reserve University. Hundert will remain on the Board as Thomas F. Zenty III, President and Chief Executive Officer of University Hospitals Health System rotates into the chairmanship.
“We look forward to building on the history of our efforts with BioEnterprise through increased collaborative activities, including our work together in clinical trials,” said Strauss. “We are also excited to have the support of BioEnterprise for Summa Enterprise Group.”
In 2002, Summa Health System created a center for innovation when it launched the Summa Enterprise Group (SEG). A 100-percent, fully owned subsidiary of Summa Health System, SEG was created to provide an entrepreneurial outlet for the system and to bring health-based products and services to the market.
Since its inception, Summa Enterprise Group has formed several companies, including Cornerstone Medical Services, a business that specializes in durable medical equipment; and CompMed, a business that specializes in collecting worker’s compensation insurance claims for health systems.
“Generally, the business community does not view hospitals or health systems as being entrepreneurs,” said Michael Wojno, CEO of the Summa Enterprise Group. “But Summa is changing this stereotype – and doing so with the leadership and structure to be successful. We look forward to our partnership with BioEnterprise as a way of furthering our success.”
“Summa Enterprise Group has demonstrated an innovative approach to business creation. The BioEnterprise team looks forward to supporting those efforts,” noted Baiju R. Shah, President of BioEnterprise.
About BioEnterprise
BioEnterprise is a business formation, recruitment, and acceleration effort designed to support the growth of bioscience companies. Located in Cleveland, BioEnterprise provides management counsel and support services to bioscience companies. BioEnterprise's partners are Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, University Hospitals Health System, Inc, and Summa Health System. Additional technology partners include the NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland State University, and NorTech.
The BioEnterprise Initiative comprises the collaborative activities of BioEnterprise Corporation, Case Research Institute Office of Technology Transfer, Cleveland Clinic Innovations, and Summa Enterprise Group. The combined efforts of these groups has created, recruited, and accelerated more than 30 companies in two years.
About Summa Health System
Summa Health System is one of the largest organized health systems in Ohio. The system encompasses a network of hospitals, including Akron City, St. Thomas and Cuyahoga Falls General Hospitals; health centers in four surrounding communities; SummaCare; Summa Health Network; Summa Enterprise Group; and the Summa Foundation. Providing a full continuum of care, Summa is renowned for excellence in patient care and for exceptional approaches to healthcare delivery. Summa’s clinical services continue to be nationally recognized by U.S. News & World Report, Solucient, HealthGrades and Money Magazine.
Contact Information:
BioEnterprise
Paul Nickels or Baiju Shah
BioEnterprise
216.658.3966
pnickels@bioenterprise.com
www.bioenterprise.com
Summa Health System
Heather Phillips
Manager of Public Relations
(330) 375-7930
philliph@summa-health.org
www.summahealth.org