Cleveland Clinic patients will soon be able to schedule certain elective surgeries and procedures at the system’s main campus on Saturdays, a move aimed at improving access and reducing care delays.
Beginning Jan. 17, Saturday surgical appointments will be available for outpatient procedures in urology, plastic surgery, head and neck, orthopedics, and spine, with additional specialties potentially added over time, the health system said in a Jan. 13 release.
The expansion builds on steps Cleveland Clinic took in 2025 to extend hours for outpatient specialty care and elective procedures at its Northeast Ohio locations. Since adding Saturday surgical hours last July at four sites, the system has performed nearly 700 weekend procedures, with endoscopies accounting for the highest volume. The main campus will become the fifth location to offer Saturday surgical access.
“We are committed to making our care easier to access, and extending hours is one way we are acting on feedback provided by our patients,” James Gutierrez, MD, chief of Cleveland Clinic’s Primary Care Institute, said in the release. “We are proud to be able to care for patients at times that align with their needs, ensuring they receive timely attention and helping to prevent delays that could lead to more serious health outcomes.”
Health systems are prioritizing timely access to care amid renewed urgency around delayed or skipped services — an issue often tied to cost, coverage loss or scheduling barriers. In November, Patrick Kokoruda, vice president of access transformation at Cleveland Clinic, told Becker’s the system is proactively contacting patients overdue for screenings and expanding extended hours, including evenings and weekends, to make preventive care easier to schedule. He also pointed to efforts to improve self-scheduling and use real-time notifications to help patients move up appointments when earlier slots open.
