Innovation, influence and business in America's medical cities.

CLEVELAND,Ohio — Health care veteran James J. Benedict Jr. will leadUH Ahuja Medical Center — the Beachwood, Ohio, hospital and medical office building at the center of University Hospitals’ aggressive growth plan — when it opens in2011.

Benedict, who was named president of the center, already overseesoperational planning for the $230.5 million health care campus, University Hospitals (UH) said in a written statement. In two years, he also will be responsible for assembling and leading a team thatprovidesmedical, surgical and emergency services to patients in Cleveland's eastern and southeastern suburbs.

Since joining University Hospitals, Jim has played a vital role in the dramatic growth and financial success of our health system, said Dr. Achilles Demetriou,president of theUniversity Hospitals health system.

Benedict joined UH in 2004 as senior vice president and general manager of operations at UH Case Medical Center in Cleveland. He had been atMetroHealth Medical Center asvice president of medical operations. In 2006, he was named UH’s senior vice president of ambulatory operations and community hospital planning.Under his leadership, University Hospitalsexpanded itsnon-hospital healthcenters tocommunities including Twinsburg, MayfieldandHudson, UH said.

Benedict also has been part of theteam that planned, designed andbuiltUH Concord Health Center, which opens next week,as well asUH Medina Health Center, scheduled to open in early 2010. In all, Benedicthas more than 20 years’experience in physician practice development, acquisition and growth strategies for physician specialty networks, hospital management and development of large-scale construction projects.

Prior to his stint at MetroHealth, Benedict spent 13 years as a leader at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He holds a law degree from Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall School of Law. He also is a certified public accountant, earning a master’s degree in accounting and financial information managementfrom Cleveland State, UH said.Benedict earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea.

It is my privilege to serve every day with the talented physicians, nurses, health care professionals and employees of the UH family,Benedict said in the UH statement. Our health system continues to grow throughout Northeast Ohio, and the UH Ahuja Medical Center will enable us to better serve our patients.”

The UH Ahuja Medical Center is a key component of UH's $1.2 billion Vision 2010 strategic plan, which includes the future UH Cancer Hospital and Center for Emergency Medicine, both at UH Case Medical Center, as well as the recently opened Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, the health system said. THe facility is namedin honor of Monte and Usha Ahuja and their family, whichhave committed $30 million to University Hospitals, the largest gift in the health system's history.

The first phase of themedical center is a 60,000-square-foot medical office building and a 144-bed hospital. The hospital could beexpanded to600 beds over three phases. Primary and secondary care services will include general medical and surgical care, minimally invasive surgery, cardiology, neurology, orthopedics, gastroenterology, pediatric outpatient surgery,diagnostics and emergency care for adults and children.

University Hospitals believes itsVision 2010 plan will createabout2,000hospital jobs in Northeast Ohio, adding up tomore than $500 million in annual salaries, wages and benefits.