CASE 5-A

East Mercy Medical Center

Dorothy Jacobs was recently hired as assistant administrator
of the East Mercy Medical Center. She is a new graduate of a well-regarded
masters degree program in hospital administration and is expected to
incorporate some advanced thinking into the apparently lax practices at East
Mercy.
Hospitals
have recently been under increasing pressure from both government and local
sources because of escalating costs. Although members of the board of directors
of East Mercy feel that cost considerations are secondary to quality care, its
members also are sensitive to the increasing public pressure.
East Mercy
is located in a rapidly growing area and is experiencing capacity
limitations. In particular, according to
staff personnel, the obstetrics, adult medical/surgical, and pediatric wards
are bursting at the seams. East Mercy is considering an extensive expansion
program, including expansion of the obstetric, adult medical/surgical, and
pediatric wards. The board has allocated a total of $400,000 for new beds in
these three wards. Dorothy is presently
trying to determine how many beds current demand levels justify for each ward
and how many beds to actually add, given the $400,000 cost constraint.
Dorothy and
her staff have computed statistics based on the current years patient census
data in each of the three wards. These figures are as follows:

WARD

AVERAGE NO. BEDS USED PER DAY

STANDARD DEVIATION

Obstetrics

24

6.1

Surgery

13

4.3

Pediatrics

19

4.7

Histogram plots of bed usage show a close approximation to a
normal distribution for each department.

The present
capacity of each ward is:

Obstetrics

30

Surgery

20

Pediatrics

24

The
hospitals architects have given the following estimates of the cost of adding
one bed and all necessary supporting equipment to each of the wards:

Obstetrics

$20,000

Surgery

$26,000

Pediatrics

$15,500

It is possible for a ward to exceed its capacity, but
according to state guidelines, this should not occur more than 5% o the time.

Dorothy is in the process of preparing a report to the
administrator showing how many beds are to be added to each of the three
wards.

Dear students:

Greetings! I have received messages from some of the
students in the sense that they consider appropriate instructions on
“Wilson Corporation” are unclear. As clarified the instructions for
your benefit: You have to step into the shoes of Jennifer and conduct an
analysis of the sampled data and supplied by the state. These data were
included with the case in a excel document. The analysis should be used only
descriptive statistics; ie tables, graphs and measures (central tendency,
location, dispersion, or form) without being redundant. With redundant I mean
you should not include a table and a graph to present exactly the same
information to two or more measures that seek the same. The purpose of this
report is to verify if indeed the Environmental Services Department’s right to
proceed with the notice of violation of water quality. The report drawn up in a
word processor should be double spacing and letter should be “times
roman” (size 12). In addition, the report should contain a brief overview
of the situation analysis (based with tables, graphs or measures – if any) and
a conclusion. If the case raises an issue which has to make decisions or take a
position, you must do so clearly. Refer to the “Course Materials” to
see the rubric with which cases are assessed in this course. Be well.CASE 5-AEast Mercy Medical CenterDorothy Jacobs was recently hired as assistant administrator
of the East Mercy Medical Center. She is a new graduate of a well-regarded
masters degree program in hospital administration and is expected to
incorporate some advanced thinking into the apparently lax practices at East
Mercy. Hospitals
have recently been under increasing pressure from both government and local
sources because of escalating costs. Although members of the board of directors
of East Mercy feel that cost considerations are secondary to quality care, its
members also are sensitive to the increasing public pressure. East Mercy
is located in a rapidly growing area and is experiencing capacity
limitations. In particular, according to
staff personnel, the obstetrics, adult medical/surgical, and pediatric wards
are bursting at the seams. East Mercy is considering an extensive expansion
program, including expansion of the obstetric, adult medical/surgical, and
pediatric wards. The board has allocated a total of $400,000 for new beds in
these three wards. Dorothy is presently
trying to determine how many beds current demand levels justify for each ward
and how many beds to actually add, given the $400,000 cost constraint. Dorothy and
her staff have computed statistics based on the current years patient census
data in each of the three wards. These figures are as follows:WARDAVERAGE NO. BEDS USED PER DAYSTANDARD DEVIATIONObstetrics 246.1Surgery134.3Pediatrics194.7Histogram plots of bed usage show a close approximation to a
normal distribution for each department.
The present
capacity of each ward is: Obstetrics30Surgery20Pediatrics24 The
hospitals architects have given the following estimates of the cost of adding
one bed and all necessary supporting equipment to each of the wards: Obstetrics$20,000Surgery$26,000Pediatrics$15,500It is possible for a ward to exceed its capacity, but
according to state guidelines, this should not occur more than 5% o the time.Dorothy is in the process of preparing a report to the
administrator showing how many beds are to be added to each of the three
wards. Dear students:Greetings! I have received messages from some of the
students in the sense that they consider appropriate instructions on
“Wilson Corporation” are unclear. As clarified the instructions for
your benefit: You have to step into the shoes of Jennifer and conduct an
analysis of the sampled data and supplied by the state. These data were
included with the case in a excel document. The analysis should be used only
descriptive statistics; ie tables, graphs and measures (central tendency,
location, dispersion, or form) without being redundant. With redundant I mean
you should not include a table and a graph to present exactly the same
information to two or more measures that seek the same. The purpose of this
report is to verify if indeed the Environmental Services Department’s right to
proceed with the notice of violation of water quality. The report drawn up in a
word processor should be double spacing and letter should be “times
roman” (size 12). In addition, the report should contain a brief overview
of the situation analysis (based with tables, graphs or measures – if any) and
a conclusion. If the case raises an issue which has to make decisions or take a
position, you must do so clearly. Refer to the “Course Materials” to
see the rubric with which cases are assessed in this course. Be well.