Union Home Mortgage is expanding Strongsville headquarters, could reach 2,000 total employees in three years. PAGE 5
CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM I FEBRUARY 22, 2021
FOCUS | HIGHER EDUCATION
IVORY TOWERS A Crain’s special report examines how higher education is failing Black Americans in the Midwest
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ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREA LEVY FOR CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSIENSS
n three Midwestern cities, there are broad disparities in who is going where in higher education — and who is going anywhere at all. Black Americans in Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit, as well as the nation, remain underrepresented at our best colleges and overrepresented at some of our worst. Take Cleveland, for example, where nearly half of the residents are Black. Case Western Reserve University, the city’s most selective college, reported only 6% of its population was made up of Black students in 2018, a number that’s barely budged since 2000. The issues add up to stubborn gaps in who’s getting a degree. PAGES 10-12
REAL ESTATE
HEALTH CARE
Cleveland could require licenses for short-term New Medicaid rule expands rentals, public hearings for full-time Airbnbs pharmacist reimbursement City councilmen introduce new legislation to bring more regulation BY MICHELLE JARBOE
Two Cleveland councilmen are taking another run at reining in short-term home rentals, a growing segment of the lodging economy that has been a boon to pandemic-weary
travelers but a bane in some city neighborhoods. Under legislation introduced at Cleveland City Council this month, the city would require hosts to pay for an annual license. Unlicensed hosts would be subject to fines. And opera-
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VOL. 42, NO. 7 l COPYRIGHT 2021 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
tors who otherwise run afoul of city laws could have their licenses revoked and face possible criminal charges. The proposal also would require full-time hosts in largely residential areas to appear before the Cleveland Board of Zoning Appeals to have their rentals reclassified as “lodging houses.” That prospect, that vocal neighbors at a public hearing might prevent a host from accepting transient tenants, worries investors like Billy Fronimo. His Lakewood-based business, the House Hotels, owns and manages roughly 30 such rentals, including a dozen units in Cleveland. See RENTALS on Page 19
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Measure would allow pharmacists to bill state for other services, could improve bond with patients BY LYDIA COUTRÉ
Though pharmacists are among the most accessible health care professionals, many patients may be hard pressed to name the medication expert who fills their prescriptions. “If you ask a patient to name their dentist, name their physician and name their pharmacist, it’s harder for them — unless they go to an independent pharmacy — to name their pharmacist,” said Ernest Boyd, executive director of the Ohio Pharmacists Association. A new rule from the Ohio Department of Medicaid may provide
opportunities for them to strengthen their relationships with patients by allowing reimbursement for pharmacists performing certain clinical activities. Their services have evolved and expanded over the years, but the mechanisms through which pharmacists are paid have been limited largely to dispensing drugs and administering vaccines. The state Medicaid department last month rolled out a system for pharmacists to enroll as recognized providers and bill the department for a number of new services. See PHARMACISTS on Page 20
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