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CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland Clinic is going to turn wellness into a business.
The health giant in December incorporated Cleveland Clinic Wellness Enterprise LLC, an organization dedicated to “selling wellness products and the commercialization of ideas” from the Clinic’s Wellness Institute, according to documents (pdf) filed with the Ohio Secretary of State.
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The effort is spearheaded by Scott E. McFarland, who joined the Clinic in March as its president of wellness. The Clinic started advertising in at least the past few weeks for additional employees for the enterprise, and added a director of operations to the organization this month.
Although Wellness Enterprise is designated as a non-profit organization, according to state filings, its goals are clearly to commercialize and create new revenue streams for the Clinic.
In some ways this approach is a unique move by the Clinic, which has typically focused on spinning off its core medical innovations to other organizations. This is also a service, whereas most of the spin-offs are related to medical devices, drug or therapies.
At speaking engagements and events, McFarland is described as leading a group that is “commercializing the world’s first clinically-based comprehensive wellness company scaled to serve consumers, patients and caregivers globally with excellence in prevention, health promotion and lifestyle management products and services.”
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McFarland, through Wellness Enterprise, will develop the Clinic’s “value proposition into new and early stage wellness markets and health promotion delivery systems including the direct to consumer, sponsor and caregiver channels.”
McFarland previously worked as a vice president at HealthWays.
