FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

May 23, 2019

CONTACT:
Tina Shaerban Arundel, Public & Media Relations Manager, The MetroHealth System,
216-978-6083, tarundel@metrohealth.org

The MetroHealth System Statement Regarding Recent Lawsuit and Related Press
Conference

(Cleveland) – The MetroHealth System is – and has been – committed to ensuring the health
and safety of the men and women in the Cuyahoga County jail. That’s why we entered into the
contract to provide physicians and other providers to the jail as of 2011. That’s why, as early as
2016, we advocated for a comprehensive role in the oversight and staffing of medical operations
at the jail. That’s why, in November 2018, we retained the National Commission on Correctional
Health Care to advise MetroHealth and the County as to needed changes in operations. And,
that’s why, in May 2019, we assumed an expanded oversight and staffing role for health care at
the jail. None of this has been profitable. This is our mission and has come at great cost to
MetroHealth.

We have respect for Mr. Brack and his work on behalf of MetroHealth in caring for the
detainees. He was a valued employee of MetroHealth and we never contemplated or desired
his transfer out of the jail. We did so at the demand of our client. We tried to keep Gary at
MetroHealth in comparable positions and continue to wish he was a part of our team.

The lawsuit will sort out the legal issues, but MetroHealth will not sit back and permit Mr.
Chandra’s unfounded and defamatory statements to be left unaddressed. While many of his
assertions are patently false, Mr. Chandra disregards facts and instead chooses to smear and
grossly mislead. Unfortunately, we have seen this from Mr. Chandra before.

Mr. Chandra’s reckless mischaracterizations include the following:

a. Mr. Chandra suggested that MetroHealth’s contract with the County precluded
the County from demanding the removal of MetroHealth staff from the jail, and he
went on to quote language from a contract. However, the contract he quoted
was the new contract that was put into place just this month. And the language
he quoted was specifically added by MetroHealth under the new agreement to
prevent this exact type of situation from happening again.

b. Mr. Chandra repeatedly stated that MetroHealth is driven by profits and money in
providing care in the jail. Mr. Chandra has no knowledge of any facts regarding
 whether the contract is profitable. And, in fact, it is not. MetroHealth has never
profited from its jail contracts.

c. Mr. Chandra suggested that MetroHealth violated Mr. Brack’s First Amendment
rights. He misconstrues normal preparations for an official presentation to
County Council into something nefarious. We recognize and respect everyone’s
First Amendment rights. As MetroHealth conveyed to Mr. Brack at the time, we
had no issue with the substance of his statements to County Council. Indeed,
consistent with the issues Mr. Brack raised at the Council hearing, MetroHealth
had been advocating for changes in jail policies and procedures to enhance
detainee and staff safety for more than a year prior to the Council meeting.

MetroHealth looks forward to the opportunity to defend itself in the lawsuit, secure in the
knowledge that we are champions of all those who need care.

About The MetroHealth System

The MetroHealth System, Cuyahoga County’s public health system, is honoring its commitment
to create a healthier community by building a new hospital on its main campus in Cleveland.
The building, and the 25 acres of green space around it, are catalyzing the revitalization of
MetroHealth’s West Side neighborhood.

MetroHealth broke ground on its new hospital in 2019. The project is being financed with nearly
$1 billion the system borrowed on its own credit after dramatically improving its finances. In the
past five years, MetroHealth’s operating revenue has increased by 44.5 percent and its number
of employees by 21 percent. Today, its staff of more than 7,900 provides care at MetroHealth’s
four hospitals, four emergency departments and more than 20 health centers and 40 additional
sites throughout Cuyahoga County. In the past year, MetroHealth has served 300,000 patients
at more than 1.4 million visits in its hospitals and health centers, 75 percent of whom are
uninsured or covered by Medicare or Medicaid.

The health system is home to Cuyahoga County’s most experienced Level I Adult Trauma
Center, verified since 1992, and Ohio’s only adult and pediatric trauma and burn center.

As an academic medical center, MetroHealth is committed to teaching and research. Each

active staff physician holds a faculty appointment at Case Western Reserve University School of
Medicine and its main campus hospital houses a Cleveland Metropolitan School District high
school of science and health.

For more information, visit metrohealth.org.