Search the Internet for a healthcare organization’s strategic plan. Examine and write a 2-page analysis of it using APA format. Please be sure to address the following prompts in your paper:
Does it contain all of the components discussed in chapter 10?
Did the organization involve its key stakeholders in the plan’s development?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the plan?
Strategic Planning in Healthcare
Strategic planning is critical for businesses to establish the direction they strive to follow, considering where they are and available resources. The strategic plan includes the mission, vision, and core values, and the long-term goals of the organization. Some in consists of the action plan that the company intends to take to achieve the long-term goals. A correct strategic plan can aid the growth and success of the organization since it helps the management to focus resources to the most critical activities to achieve goals and objectives. Although strategic planning could sound essential in business organizations, it is also necessary for health care organizations. It necessitates the participation of key stakeholders and an evaluation of strengths and weaknesses.
Stakeholder Participation
The analysis focuses on the strategic plan of A.O. Fox Hospital, as revealed on the organization’s website. Information from the website indicates a high level of stakeholder involvement from the beginning of the hospital’s strategic plan. Colonel Reuben Fox did not just build the hospital but provided the city $10,000 to build one as a memorial to his wife (Bassett Healthcare Network, 2020). Therefore, the strategic direction, including the mission, vision, and long-term goals of the hospital, was created in collaboration with key stakeholders, including members of the community. The community hospital still runs through the support of the city government and members of the adjacent community who receive services from the facility.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Plan
A.O. Fox Hospital strategic plan has numerous strengths that make it viable and beneficial to the healthcare organization. First, the strategic plans involve engagement and participation of key stakeholders, mostly members of the community that it serves. Second, the plan has a clear mission, vision and core values that form the direction that the organization seeks to move and what it seeks to achieve in the long-term. The mission is: “Improving the health of our patients and the well-being of our communities”. The mission is split into three parts: “To provide high quality health care through integrated and clinically advanced services. To be a model of excellence for rural health. To maintain a unique presence in academic medicine and research”. The core values are: “Values; Compassion; Teamwork; Service; Accountability; Relationships; and Learning” (Bassett Healthcare Network, 2020). Finally, the strategic plans reveal the direction which the organization moves and the available services to reach the strategic destination.
However, the strategic plan has some weaknesses. First, while the plan has the mission, vision, and core values, it lacks the key long-term objectives. Lack of the goals makes the strategic plan weak since it is unclear what the organization seeks to achieve in the long-term. Secondly, the plan does not have any action plans to achieve the goals, which are also missing. The community hospital would have a clear direction to follow to achieve goals and actions plans to ensure that they are met. Finally, it would help to include a transparent allocation of resources to the strategic plan.
Conclusion
Strategic planning plays a key role in all organizations, including those operating within the health care sector. A.O. Fox Hospital strategic plan reveals the engagement of the community and other key stakeholders. The plan has strengths that make is feasible, but also has drawbacks that the management should address to improve it. The hospital should review and amend the plan to provide a better direction, goals, and action plans for the community hospital.
Reference
Bassett Healthcare Network. (2020). https://www.bassett.org