The process of hospital merging has some benefits and drawbacks. While the benefits of developing such a plan may help health care providers to save money and devote their financial and material resources towards a more profitable business structure, political and social ramifications of this decision may negatively affect the situation in the local community. This paper aims to explore the outcomes of a strategic plan that describes a process of the hospital services amalgamation with a condition of job loss for a thousand workers, including seventy management positions and six hundred and fifty nursing and staff positions.
Economic Ramifications
The economic ramifications of this plan may vary depending on the efficiency of the developed program. On the one hand, a smaller number of hired personnel may help the merged hospitals to lower expenses connected to workers’ compensation and benefits. Moreover, the process of hiring and developing a management structure should also be cheaper. However, according to Holmes (2015), many hospitals that underwent a merger, experienced a further loss of finances due to the lack of a proper managing structure. Furthermore, some hospitals that decided to merge due to their low profitability reported that their financial situation only became worse after the amalgamation. Postma and Roos (2016) note that a merger often happens under the pressure of insurers and competitors that usually concentrate on financial matters of the services. Therefore, the result of a merger does not bring the desired results because the hospitals that have been acquired remain inefficient and unprofitable.
Social Ramifications
Social ramifications are largely connected to the process of firing personnel. A community that encounters such an amalgamation may suffer from a higher unemployment rate, which may, in turn, lead to greater levels of competition. According to Holmes (2015), hospitals are one of the biggest employers in many communities. Therefore, the amalgamation of hospital services followed by an excessive job reduction can significantly affect the situation of job markets on the local level. Moreover, the satisfaction of patients may also change. The lack of personnel implies that services of most hospitals become less accessible to members of the community. Therefore, these medical establishments may encounter a problem of low customer satisfaction. On the other hand, Lim (2014) writes that the levels of job satisfaction for staff may rise. According to this study, mergers of hospital services may positively affect staff members that remain at the working establishments because their positions become more valuable than before. However, the negative social impact of amalgamations is undeniable as well. Many workers, especially nursing and medical professionals, that lost their jobs may find themselves in a difficult position.
Political Ramifications
Finally, political outcomes of this strategic plan may include the growing dissatisfaction of citizens with the current political figures. Health care is considered to be one of the most important areas of service that can be accessed by individuals. Therefore, citizens’ attention to the quality of health care services remains high (Postma & Roos, 2016). If a hospital becomes more efficient and accessible for patients, the amalgamation will result in clients’ satisfaction rising to a better level. However, if the merger results in multiple establishments becoming even less stable and reliable than before, then citizens’ negative reaction may spread to the positions of political leadership in this area.
Conclusion
All in all, the ramifications of a hospital services merger may affect the community as a whole as well as its individual members. Furthermore, the unstable results of such amalgamations may negatively influence the economic position of hospitals, the political situation in the area, and the levels of customer satisfaction.
References
Holmes, M. (2015). Financially fragile rural hospitals mergers and closures. North Carolina Medical Journal, 76(1), 37-40.
Lim, K. K. (2014). Impact of hospital mergers on staff job satisfaction: A quantitative study. Human Resources for Health, 12(1), 70.
Postma, J., & Roos, A. F. (2016). Why healthcare providers merge. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 11(2), 121-140.