Willow Health provides a range of healthcare services to the local community, including home visits by nurses

Question:

Willow Health provides a range of healthcare services to the local community, including home visits by nurses to elderly patients. An allied health worker, who performs a range of tasks such as housework and showering for patients, accompanies the nursing staff. When the nurses are not visiting patients, the allied health staff work at the office doing related administration work. Each year, the centre receives a budget allocation from the state government’s department of health. The objective of the home-visiting program is to enable the elderly to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. The department does not allow the centre to spend more than this allocation. The centre, in turn, allocates its budget among its various programs. The home-visiting program is approved and allocated $260396 in 2020 and $289476 in 2021 as follows.

The nursing staff receive a 5 per cent increase in salary one-third of the way through 2021. The allied health workers do not receive an increase in wages in either year. The prices of medical supplies increases by about 2 per cent during 2021. The prices of cleaning supplies are relatively constant across the two years.
Transportation is provided by the nurses, who are reimbursed 20 cents per kilometre. The clinic’s general overhead is allocated to programs on the basis of budgeted program salaries.

Required
(a) Compare the results for 2020 and 2021. Does it appear that the financial performance has improved in 2021?
(b) If you were the general manager of the centre, what would you discuss with the head of the home-visiting program concerning the 2021 results? Explain.
(c) If you were the head of the home-visiting program, how would you respond to the concerns raised in (b) above?

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