Friendly Medical Center, an urban, nonprofit, 450-bed rehabilitation hospital, began to see a significant decline in admissions. Friendly Medical Centers mission focuses on inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation of the severely injured and catastrophically ill. While the patient census varied from month to month, it appeared to the Friendly Medical Center Board of Trustees that the inpatient population was slowly but steadily declining. The hospitals market researchers reported that fewer people were being severely injured due to the popularity of seat belts and bicycle/motorcycle helmets. In order to get a handle on the future of the organization, the Board, and the CEO, Fred Splient M.D. called for a major strategic planning effort to take place.

In January 20X6, Friendly Medical Center held a planning retreat to identify future opportunities. The outcome of the retreat was that the Medical Center needed to focus its efforts around two major strategic initiatives. The first, a short-run initiative, was to be more cost-effective in the delivery of inpatient care. The second, a long-run strategy, was to develop new programs and services that would capitalize on the existing, highly competent rehabilitation therapy staff and Friendly Medical Center excellent reputation in the region.

The plan was presented at the May 20X6 meeting of the Board of Trustees. Fred Splient and his team introduced the Board to the concept of opening an assisted living facility on Friendly Medical Centers campus. The facility would be set up as a for-profit subsidiary of the Medical Center so that it could generate a profit and not be subjected to the strict guidelines of the hospitals accrediting agencies. As a subsidiary organization, however, the Board would still have control.

The Board stated that they would like a plan that would allow the facility to open by July 20X7, as research has shown that many adult children find the summer the easiest time to assist their parents in finding an alternative to independent living arrangements. The CEO and executive team were now confident that they were ready to launch the project to plan, build, and open an assisted living facility at Friendly Medical Center.

A few days after the executive team meeting, Fred decided that it was time to set up the committee that would take responsibility for what he called the ALF project. He quickly decided to include the following staff at the launch meeting:

What do you think of CEO, Dr. Splient, as the Project Manager?

Who should be the Sponsor and why?

This initiative consists of a variety of separate efforts from a lot of different groups and individuals. Should this be structured as a Program, consisting of a set of separate projects?