Healthcare

EXCLUSIVE: Ad Exposing Medical Center’s ‘Woke’ Policies Allegedly Suppressed

A hospital room. (Screen Capture/PBS North Carolina Channel)

Consumers’ Research is unveiling a mobile billboard Tuesday calling out Cleveland Clinic CEO Tom Mihaljevic and NBA team Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert for allegedly working to suppress an advertisement exposing the clinic for its “woke” priorities.

The ad referred to the clinic as the “wokest hospital in America” for allegedly prioritizing race-based care, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), gender ideology and climate activism over patient care. It was set to air during the Feb. 12 Cleveland Cavaliers v. Toronto Raptors game, but Gilbert allegedly pressured FanDuel Ohio to cut the ad, Consumers Research told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Out-of-touch billionaire Dan Gilbert and millionaire Cleveland Clinic CEO Tom Mihaljevic are desperate to censor anything exposing Cleveland Clinic’s prioritization of a woke political agenda over patients,” Will Hild, Consumers’ Research executive director, told the DCNF. “Cleveland Clinic proudly prioritized race-based care, DEI, child sex changes, and climate activism until we exposed them in our campaign. Now they are scrambling to cover their tracks, including censoring our TV ad.”

Gilbert, FanDuel and the Cleveland Cavaliers did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment. After publication, a spokesperson for Gilbert and the Cleveland Cavaliers told the DCNF that Gilbert had no role in the decision-making process, and that it was an “organizational decision.”

The television ad claimed that the hospital pushes “transgender propaganda,” performs child sex changes and pours millions into climate activism. The hospital also pushes various other DEI initiatives, according to Consumers’ Research, with Mihaljevic even stating that “healthcare is only a part of [the clinic’s] mission.”

The hospital allegedly prioritizes nonwhite patients for treatment, according to a civil rights complaint filed against the medical center in 2024.

Cleveland Clinic boasts that from 2016 to 2022, “nearly 2,800 patients have received gender affirming care” at the hospital. The center also claims on its children’s clinic page that “Being transgender or gender non-conforming is not a disorder.” The hospital also made a point to change the language its providers use to be more “inclusive,” using terms such as “‘pregnant persons’ instead of ‘pregnant women.'”

The billboard, first shared with the DCNF, asks, “What don’t Cleveland Clinic’s CEO and billionaire Dan Gilbert want you to see?” It will be visible to drivers around the Cleveland Clinic’s main campus, Rocket Arena and downtown Cleveland on Tuesday.

“Unfortunately for them, we will not stop from exposing the truth about Cleveland Clinic’s radical activities,” Hild continued. “The people of Ohio deserve to know that this hospital system is not prioritizing its patients. We hope that Dan and Tom enjoy the billboard.”

The Cleveland Clinic did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional information provided by a spokesperson for Gilbert and the Cleveland Cavaliers to the DCNF.