Case Study

Walker Memorial Hospital (WMH) and the St. Lucas Hospital are both located in Mason County and offer varied services. St. Lucas Hospital, however, happens to be a smaller, indigent facility that has various offsite services. St. Lucas often refers patients to Walker Memorial Hospital for more complex, specialized services. St. Lucas Hospital accepts walk-ins without prior scheduling and so is able to provide general services to many patients without extra charges. Walker Memorial Hospital requires scheduling before obtaining any medical care and a missed appointment attracts a fee during the next appointment.

St. Lucas Hospital requires financial support from the community to remain effective as most patients are unable to pay for services. In this much more difficult financial environment, that support is no longer available. WMH has offered to buy St. Lucas, but will apply its financial policies and change the administrative processes to meet its own, including closing all unscheduled, walk-in care. The sale is approved and WMH buys St. Lucas and both hospitals are now in the process of migrating their Patient Record Systems from paper to electronic.

Using the Case study above, conduct aSWOT analysis.