SIERRA NEVADA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL ANALYSIS

Therefore, the fact that the hospital is one of the most important employers in the community can be used to create strong relations with its community. Moreover, the hospital by acquiring the status of a critical access hospital has the opportunity to qualify for additional funding from state and federal programs. Also, by cooperating with larger health systems and urban health centers, the hospital has the opportunity to offset limitations in resources that frustrates its mission and vision due to financial challenges. Furthermore, the hospital can acquire additional doctors from the fact that rural training tracks are given priority in the redistribution of residency slots for medical graduates which can provide the Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital with the much-needed human resource.

Additional staff would give the hospital higher capacity to deal with the 75,000 residents it serves. Also, regarding organizational culture and climate, the hospital has a strong value system can be used to impart a high level of professionalism among additional staff and thus improve the hospital’s service delivery. The hospital also has a strong reputation because of its charitable activities dedicated to helping the poor and disenfranchised. However, The hospital’s employees are affected by multigenerational challenges including generational challenges that compromise teamwork in the organization. Also, The hospital has poor racial diversity in comparison to the multicultural setting in the rural community it serves. Creating racial diversity among the staff and addressing multigenerational challenges is thus crucial for Sierra Nevada hospital.

Also, because the Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital has limited volume required for particular procedures, it is unable to satisfy certain quality standards thus negatively affecting reimbursement for the hospital. Moreover, there has been a continued trend of reduced government funding to small rural hospitals. Regardless of the circumstances, small rural hospitals including the Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital experience significant cuts in Medicare payments, for example. Also, despite the Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital has a high Medicare and Medicare population (25%), it suffers from external challenges arising from its political environment. Aside from reduced government funding, new industry regulations such as the implementation of Electronic Health Records technology impose extreme financial challenges on the hospital. Financially, the hospital suffers from an overreliance on outpatient services.

The hospital can benefit from medical slots for residency graduates. Medicaid and Medicare are the primary sources of payments to the hospital. Strengths (S) SO Strategies ST Strategies The hospital has a small number of employees (800) and thus is able to easily reach consensus when deliberating on strategies and policy to be used by the hospital. The hospital’s small number of staff and cohesion could be used to quickly introduce and implement new practices in the hospital. The hospital receives a significant amount of funding from its foundation and is thus able to run its operations smoothly while being backed-up by the foundation. The hospital can use its strong brand in the community to promote its health campaigns and sell its name beyond the boundaries of its currents service area.

The hospital has a strong value system that guides the behavior and character of its employees thus earning it credibility in the community The hospital’s efficient management can be used to create an accurate and reliable data management system that will improve its reimbursement. Weaknesses (W) WO Strategies WT Strategies The hospital is understaffed in relation to the large population served by the hospital thus putting additional pressure on its employees. The hospital can use a variety of incentives including offering employees free transport to attract more staff. The hospital’s management does not have an open-door policy where employees can freely speak with their employers. The hospital should use regular meetings and have an open-door policy to ensure that all employees are heard and content with their environment.