4 Although financial data are sketchy, an estimate from a con- struction company indicates that adding bed capacity would cost about $100,000 per bed. In addition, the rate charged for the hemia surgery varies between about $900 and $2,000 (U.S. dollars), with an average rate of $1,300 per operation. The surgeons are paid a flat $600 per operation, Due to all the uncertainties in government health care legislation, Shouldice would like to justify any expansion within a five- year time period. Exhibit 11.7 is a room-occupancy table for the existing system. Each row in the table follows the patients that checked in on a given day. The columns indicate the number of patients in the hospital on a given day. For example, the first row of the table shows that 30 people checked in on Monday and were in the hospital for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. By summing the columns of the table for Wednesday, we see that there are 90 patients staying in the hospital that day.O Shouldice Hospital in Canada is widely known for one thing-hemia repair! In fact, that is the only operation it per- forms, and it performs a great many of them. Over the past two decades this small 90-bed hospital has averaged 7,000 operations annually. Last year, it had a record year and performed nearly 7,500 operations. Patients' ties to Shouldice do not end when they leave the hospital. Every year the gala Hemia Reunion dinner (with complimentary hemia inspection) draws in excess of 1,000 former patients, some of whom have been attending the event for over 30 years.