AKRON, Ohio – A new petition has been started by locals to keep Summa Health non-profit. As a result, the future of Summa Health, a revered community institution that has served the people of Akron, Ohio for over a century, now hangs in the balance as a proposal for its sale to HATCo, a venture capital-backed firm, has been put forth. If the deal goes through, the non-profit health system will be converted into a for-profit entity, a development that has sparked significant public backlash.
Summa Health has long been regarded as a treasured community asset, having been built and sustained by the people of Akron over the course of its storied 132-year history. Because of this, worries are based on the potential implications for the quality of patient care, health costs, as well as the loss of a locally controlled institution.
In response to this, a Change petition has been started which reads: ‘The current plan to sell Summa Health to venture capital-backed HATCo, and to convert it from a non-profit to a for-profit hospital, is the wrong direction for the Akron and Northeast Ohio community at this time,’ and continues, ‘Summa belongs to us all, and major decisions regarding its future should not be made without the input of the community. As generations of Akronites have built and sustained it over decades, all of us deserve a sense of ownership in it and a say in its future.’
Whether Summa will be sold to HATCo remains to be seen. Clearly however, many Akron locals are not very pleased by this prospect and are skeptical of what may follow.