Mar-a-Lago on Palm Beach Island, Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
Cleveland Clinic has held its annual fundraising gala at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club since 2011. But it won’t happen there next year.
The health system has announced its 2018 fundraiser will not take place at the Palm Beach, Florida-based resort, according to Politico.
“After careful consideration, Cleveland Clinic has decided that it will not hold a Florida fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago in 2018,” the system said in a statement. “We thank the staff of Mar-a-Lago for their service over the years.”
Cleveland Clinic received flak for hosting its event at Mar-a-Lago this past February, according to Cleveland.com.
And the criticism continued through this summer. In July, more than 1,600 medical professionals, Ohio residents and others signed an open letter urging Cleveland Clinic to choose a location that’s not affiliated with Trump.
The decision to move next year’s event comes after organizations and business leaders have been facing increasing pressure to sever ties with the president.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove was part of Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum, which has since been disbanded.
Credit: Wangkun Jia, Getty Images
