What will be included in the questions.

1. Conduct a SWOT analysis (including stakeholder assessment, levels of org culture, motivation, toxicity)
2. Build on SWOT analysis to move into more strategic planning (SMART objectives)
3. Case is structured so that readers can match strengths to opportunities and weaknesses to threats to discuss WCHS's options and offer to Sterling on three key decision points.

Case Summary

In 2015, Tyson Sterling, the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Wichita County Health Center (WCHC) is evaluating his organization's strengths and weaknesses considering a changing environment for health-care delivery in rural Kansas.

Located in the small town of Leoti (see Exhibits 1 & 2), WCHC is a federally designated critical access hospital with a total staff of 110, but only has two physicians and two certified physician assistants. The hospital has 25 beds for inpatient care, 12 beds for long-term care, and offers a variety of outpatient services. Sterling has been WCH's CEO since mid-2014. He is considering a service agreement with the Colorado-based Centura Health (Centura), but he also wants to increase the number of patients visiting the in-house medical staff at WCHC, especially for outpatient care.

Centura offered back-office financial and accounting services, access to group purchasing of medical supplies, and, perhaps most significantly, visits by specialist physicians to WCHC on a regular schedule. With professional fees to third-party organizations making up a considerable part of WCHC's expenditures, especially agency fees for temporary nurses, Sterling is very concerned about medical staffing. WHHC had played an important role in the community for decades. Losing the autonomy of operating an independent care provider would be a blow to WCHC and to the town. However, the number of both inpatients and outpatients was falling as the county's population shrank and patients traveled further to see specialists.Sterling was concerned that WCHC lacked a strategy for growth.

Read the following scenario for the three questions below.

Scenario: Your team has been hired as management consultants to advise Tyson Sterling, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Wichita County Health Center (WCHC). In light of changes underway in health care, including shifts between inpatient and outpatient care across the state (see Exhibits 12 & 13), your team has been asked to undertake a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis of WCHC. Based on this process your team will propose several scenarios for the center's future over the short and long terms. Sterling will use your SWOT analyses and scenarios in discussions with board members, and to make decisions on several pressing issues. Read and analyze the case to answer the three questions below:

1. What are WCHC's key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT)? Provide five (5) of each. Please list the SWOT points using bullet points or a table, and a brief explanation of each item.

Note: This assignment is not the place to discuss personal experiences. Use ONLY the case, exhibits, SWOT analysis, and course materials to support your answers (4 points)

1. Should WCHC align with Centura? Provide a rationale to justify your answer, using evidence from the case, your SWOT analysis, and/or course concepts/readings. (3 points)

1. Choose ONE question below to answer (either "a" or "b"), based on your response to Question 2. Do NOT answer both questions. Support your answer with evidence from both the case (text and exhibits) and from your SWOT analysis. You may also cite relevant course concepts/readings. (3 points)
   1. If you are recommending that WCHC align with Centura, what steps are needed to implement this strategy? USE SMART GOAL FORMATING
2. If you are NOT recommending that WCHC align with Centura, describe one alternative that WCHC should pursue independently, and the steps needed to implement this approach. USE SMART GOAL FORMATING