FLOYD LOOP

LOOP--Floyd D., M.D.

Floyd D. Loop M.D. Former CEO and chairman of Cleveland Clinic, passed away June 11. Dr. Loop served as chairman and CEO of Cleveland Clinic from 1989 to 2004. He was a pioneering cardiac surgeon and former chairman of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Under his leadership, Cleveland Clinic became an integrated regional healthcare delivery system, with an expanded main campus, hospital and clinic in Florida, and its own medical school program. He launched construction of what would become the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Pavilion and Glickman Tower, and established a sound foundation for Cleveland Clinic's growth in the current century. "The legacy of Dr. Loop is all around us," says Toby Cosgrove, MD, current president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic. "We can never forget all he's done to make Cleveland Clinic one of the world's great medical centers." Known to friends and colleagues as "Fred", Dr. Loop was the son of a country doctor from Lafayette, Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University, Indiana, and earned his medical degree at The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. After post-graduate training at The George Washington University, the US Air Force at Andrews Air Force Base, and Cleveland Clinic, he joined Cleveland Clinic as a cardiac surgeon in 1970. He performed more than 12,000 cardiac surgeries, and was the author of 350 papers on all aspects of cardiovascular surgery. He refined arterial grafting, improved reoperative techniques, and confirmed the superiority of the internal thoracic artery as a bypass graft to the left anterior descending coronary artery. He led comprehensive follow-up studies of bypass patients, and helped establish the world's first computerized registry of cardiac surgery outcome. In 1975, he was named chairman of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular surgery. Over the next 14 years, he consolidated Cleveland Clinic's worldwide reputation for excellence in cardiac surgery, and assembled a team of expert surgeons who would go on to lead their specialty and set the pace for years to come. Dr. Loop was named CEO in 1989. His challenges included declining reimbursement, potential competition from private hospital systems, and the need to preserve Cleveland Clinic's specialty focus amid a growing demand for primary services. He stabilized finances, centralized authority, and streamlined reporting relationships. His strategy to improve regional access resulted in the construction of family health ambulatory centers across Northeast Ohio, and the acquisition of eight community hospitals through the 1990s. At the same time, he invested heavily in information technology, laying the groundwork for a comprehensive electronic medical records system. With a leadership gift of $100 million from Alfred Lerner and family, he launched a philanthropic campaign that enabled the construction of the Lerner Research Institute, Cole Eye Institute, Taussig Cancer Center, and the Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. He improved access and added new operating rooms through the Maria and Sam Miller Emergency Services building. He reaffirmed commitment to Cleveland Clinic Florida, and built a new integrated medical campus in Weston, Florida. Programs and facilities founded under his leadership include the Sherwin Research Building, Children's Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Innovations, the Surgery Center, Neurological Imaging Center, Cleveland Clinic Sports Health, and the purchase and renovation of Foundation House. In 2001, Dr. Loop announced plans for the current Miller Family Pavilion to consolidate heart and vascular services at a single location. With modifications and the addition of the Glickman Tower, the new facility was completed under the administration of Dr. Cosgrove in 2008. Dr. Loop was married to Bernadine Healy, MD, (1944-2011), who served as chairman of the Research Institute from 1985 to 1995. His awards and honors include the American Heart Association Citation for International Service, the American College of Cardiology Cummings Humanitarian Award, and Cleveland Clinic Lerner Humanitarian Award. Dr. Loop retired as CEO in 2004. He continued to advise and mentor and served on private and public corporate boards. His book, "Leadership and Medicine" was published in 2009.