Case Study: Faith Community Hospital
There are certainly a number of problems that exist in the operation of Faith Community Hospital. There are ethical problems among the staff, in relation to the faith-based mission statement and initiative. There are also communication problems in relaying the hospital's goals and initiatives to the staff, as well as the public. Finally, and possibly the most difficult to solve, organizational problems have resulted in the hospital running at a deficit. Here we will outline the roots and symptoms of these problems, and hopefully come to a better understanding of how the hospital can run more efficiently, in order to meet the needs of patients and families, while not ignoring the hospital's own needs as an organization.
Problems and Opportunities for Improvement
The most controversial problem in Faith Community Hospital is an ethically charged one. Because the hospital has a strong religious heritage and commitment to the public, the range of individuals both running the show and receiving services is wide. This results in many patients refusing certain medical services, as well as caregivers refusing to administer certain services based on religious and philosophical beliefs.
The easiest problem to solve is likely the lack of quality communication among the staff, as well as to the staff and to the public. This problem has resulted, on multiple occasions, in certain hospital directives not being followed because they were not expressly written down or communicated from one party to another. In addition, miscommunication of the hospital's goals and initiatives to staff, results in various interpretations of the hospital's mission statement, and the manner in which the hospital chooses to achieve its goals. Furthermore, failed communication with media outlets results in a poor public perception of the hospital, and inevitably reduced numbers of patients, affecting the hospital's bott...