Cleveland Clinic will no longer hold gala at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

by Taylor Lorenz - 08/17/17 1:04 PM ET

The Cleveland Clinic will no longer hold its annual fundraising gala at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

“After careful consideration, Cleveland Clinic has decided that it will not hold a Florida fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago in 2018,” the hospital system said in a statement, according to Cleveland.com. “We thank the staff of Mar-a-Lago for their service over the years.”

The clinic and its CEO, Toby Cosgrove, have taken heat for continuing to host the gala at the club. Though the event has been held at Mar-a-Lago for the past eight years and is billed as a nonpolitical fundraiser, critics said the hospital system was funneling money into the president’s business.

In July, more than 1,100 medical professionals, medical students and Ohio residents signed a letter of concern, asking the hospital system to choose a more neutral venue.

Mar-a-Lago “symbolically and financially supports a politician actively working to decrease access to healthcare and cut billions of dollars in research funding from the National Institutes of Health budget,” the letter stated.

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The clinic’s decision to move the gala comes at a time when many business leaders are openly criticizing Trump.

On Wednesday, the president made the decision to dissolve his business advisory council after 11 CEOs dropped out in response to statements the president made about deadly, racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va. Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, remained on the council until its end.

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