CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland Clinic will offer fully paid parental leave to eligible employees starting in April.

In an announcement of the new policy, Clinic President and CEO Dr. Tom Mihaljevic said, “Paid family leave offers economic security and peace of mind to families during one of life’s most significant events. And it has a positive effect on the health and well-being of both the mother and the newborn.”

Mothers will receive eight weeks of maternity leave following childbirth, as well as four weeks of parental leave. The other parent will receive four weeks of parental leave, Mihaljevic said.

The head of the Clinic called the new policy “comprehensive” and said it covers same-sex couples, adoptive parents and surrogate parents.

“We did not really differentiate when it comes to the details of parental circumstances. We’re here to provide a support for new parents and children as well,” Mihaljevic said. “Regardless of the way that one becomes a parent, the time spent with the child is of paramount importance.”

He said the early days of childhood are crucial both for the development of the child and for the bond between parents and children.

Currently, the Clinic provides time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act, a federal law that entitles eligible employees to receive 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth of a child, but does not have a paid parental leave benefit. The Clinic offers maternity leave under its short-term disability program but it isn’t fully paid, a Clinic spokesperson said.

“We just didn’t think that pregnancy and parenthood should be viewed as a disability. This is a crucial time in the life of any family,” Mihaljevic said.

Details on which employees will be considered eligible are still being worked out but should be available by early next year, the spokesperson said.

The new parental leave policy follows the Clinic’s earlier pledge to increase the minimum wage for hourly employees to $15 per hour by 2020. Mihaljevic said both policy changes are part of a continuous attempt by the organization to improve support for employees.

As a nonprofit organization, any surplus income the Clinic generates is funneled back into the system and its employees, which is how the new policy will be covered financially, Mihaljevic said. The Clinic’s operating income in 2018 was $266 million.

He said the Clinic has a “responsibility to advocate for what is right” for employees and to innovate in its support for them, much in the same way that it has a responsibility to innovate in health care education and research.

“I think this is an important step for the Cleveland Clinic,” Mihaljevic said. “I certainly hope that many other organizations inside and outside of health care are going to follow the path that we are charting.”

This story was updated after an interview with Cleveland Clinic President and CEO Dr. Tom Mihaljevic.