Case Study: The Brooks Union DivideLeah M$.$ Omilion You need to change with the times, Tom, explained the President of the Board of Directors.Mr$.$ Dennis, please. I have told you countless times that I prefer Mr$.$ Dennis, never Tom, reprimanded Mr$.$ Dennis.Mr$.$ Dennis, we need a change, pleaded another board member.Were being left behind, were a dinosaur in the health care world, argued a third member.I will not engage in this petty squabble, declared Mr$.$ Dennis. My results speak for themselves, he continued.Yes, yes they do$,$ the President of the Board of Directors assumed control of the conversation. We have lost an overall $13\mathrm{.}7\%,$ nearly $15\%,$ of our market share during the last three years of your tenure. $8\%$ of that is community members that came here for elective procedureswellness, yoga, even minor cosmetic procedures. These are things they choose to pay for out of pocketnot insurance, and we lost them to Johnson Regional.Perhaps that is true, but Ive brought the best of the best physicians in the country, Mr$.$ Dennis rapidly tried defending himself.Yes, we are lucky to have Drs$.$ Sawicki and Williams as Medical Directors in the Cardiology Department, but we still continue to reinforce the old medical mold. Its just not working, Tom.Mr$.$ Dennis, he shouted at the Board of Directors.Instead of shouting back, the President stood up and calmly asked for Mr$.$ Denniss letter of resignation.The loss of market share shows that we are not meeting our customers needs. Also, in the twenty$-$three years of Brooks$-$Union, employee satisfaction has never been so low, and turnover so high. Mr$.$ Dennis, people dont want to come here nowwhether they are a patient or an employee.Among a sea of expletives, Mr$.$ Dennis kicked over a waste paper basket and turned a chair on its side as he stormed out of the conference room. Jims New JobJim sat in his new office. He leaned back in his cushioned, black leather chair, his head cradled in his interlaced hands, taking a few moments to decompress. He found himself smiling as he pivoted in his chair examining his new surroundingsHe had always wanted an oak desk and now at fifty eight years of age he had one.Jim had been in the health care setting his whole career. He had started in Patient Registration and moved to Admissions. In Admissions, he had made an impression on some of the physicians and was then offered the position as Physician Relations Director. After that, he became the Director of Orthopedics and then moved into Leadership holding Chief Experience Officer, Chief Operating Officer and now, Chief Executive Officer and President. His steady progression allowed him to see how health care is perceived and functions at various levels and in a handful of organizations too. Brooks Union was his seventh, and hopefully final, health care center. When he accepted the position, Jim knew that it would be a challenge. The face of health care was changing. The government had just passed legislature to socialize health care and on top of that, the type of care patients wanted was changing too. Through the years, Jim watched patients use hospitals and health care centers only when they had an emergency, were in delivery, or in need of surgery. Today, patients wanted centers, which cared for their overall health and well$-$being. At the hospital he had come from the services that were most highly utilized were alternative treatmentsyoga, Reiki, Pilates, and massage. There was even a demand for healthy cooking seminars and education on natural herbs and supplements. Jim often found himself shaking his head as he looked at the requests from the community, thinking, Wow, people are looking to their hospitals for different things these days. Theyre asking us to become a large part of their lives. A Breath of Fresh Air?Jim was a data person. He did not like to make inferences, instead her preferred critical reasoning after looking at numbers. This is the stance he employed at his first Leadership Management Team meeting at Brooks Union. The Leadership Management Team was composed of all of the senior leaders in the organizationthe Chief Medical Officer, Chief Ethics Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and the Chief Financial Officer among others. While this is my first official week in this position, Ive had access to your numbers since I accepted the job a month ago. Im telling you, Ive spent many nights reviewing your trends, analyzing patient demographics and requests. Ive even looked back to data from up to a decade ago to see what services are most heavily utilized. Its no doubt that our cardiology program is among the best in the nation, and the numbers surely reflect it$.$ Our orthopedics and womens health divisions are also holding their own, but thats about it$.$ So I want to find a way to add to our breadth of services while still devoting time and marketing dollars to cardiology, orthopedics and womens services. One way to do this, and I can tell you that its been quite successful for my previous organizations as well, is to add more elective wellness based, holistic options. Id like to introduce to you a woman that has quite the track record at this sort of thing, Dr$.$ Gisela Zafar. She was just so good, I had to steal her when I left and bring her here to help us at Brooks Union. As part of his new role, Jim had negotiated to bring a few colleagues from his previous organization to assist him and the organization. His star was Dr$.$ Zafar. She had been the Vice President of Medical Affairs at their previous hospital and very instrumental in spearheading the alternative treatment options for patients. She was a trained medical doctor, but actively sought to complement traditional treatments with holistic approaches. If Mr$.$ Dennis was let go because of his seemingly archaic ways, Jim would not be guilty of that especially with a credible, experienced leader such as Dr$.$ Zafar on his side. Ive asked Dr$.$ Zafar to prepare a short presentation for all of you detailing her experience with alternative treatment therapiesyou know, Reikii, yoga, Pilates. What else am I missing, Gisela?As many of you know, wellness is about more than just treating symptoms, it is about treating the patient in whole. This means their physical, mental, spiritual and emotional well being. The programs that I pioneered at my previous organization, and hope to here too include: meditation, affirmation training, stress management, social training, massage therapy, and of course, yoga, Pilates, and Reikki, gently explained Dr$.$ Zafar. Before Dr$.$ Zafar could begin her presentation, Dr$.$ Blau, the current Chief Medical Officer stood up$.$ Is this really where you plan to take us$,$ Jim? he asked exacerbated.Jim responded, Ah$,$ Dr$.$ Blau, right? Ive heard many great things about you.Dont give me that! What is this new age stuff? Why would we break from the traditional medical mold? hollered Dr$.$ Blau.With all due respect, Dr$.$ Blau. There is much data to back up the success of such programs, Dr$.$ Zafar and I saw it at our last organization. The traditional approach alone isnt working, calmly responded Jim.I dont believe in it$!$ We dont treat people, we treat symptoms. We make symptoms disappear and help people get back to their daily lives. Thats why our cardiology program is so elite! retorted Dr$.$ Blau.Dr$.$ Blau, sometimes it is a persons daily life that makes them sick. There is too much stress today in everyones lives. These new approaches help to mediate that. There are plenty of journals that boast of the medical benefits of these approachesand they are in tandem with the traditional approach. We can do both, Dr$.$ Zafar tried to clarified.No$.$ No$,$ I dont see them as being complementary. I see them as fundamentally different approaches. I am shocked as a medical practitioner that you would support such rubbish, Dr$.$ Blau continued.Again, Doctor, there are many medical studies that demonstrate the overall benefit these therapies have on individual wellbeing and health. These are proactive approaches. We treat people before they are sick and help to prevent illness. Should someone need surgery or medical intervention, Brooks Union can provide that too, Dr$.$ Zafar tried reasoning with Dr$.$ Blau.Jim looked around the room. Everyones eyes were wide and glued on him, and Drs$.$ Blau and Zafar. He was losing control and needed to find a way to rein the conversation in$.$ As Jim was about to speak, Dr$.$ Blau shocked everyone.You know what, Jim. I am sorry to do this to you, but I feel like you to need to pick me or Dr$.$ Zafar. I know youve made her the Vice President of Medical Affairs, but Ive been the Chief Medical Officer here for fifteen years. Every day I give everything I have to this job, and to the patients. I think this holistic stuff is a passing phase and if its one we are going to endorse then Ill step down and find another hospital to practice at$,$ said Dr$.$ Blau calmly.Dr$.$ Blau, certainly there is not any need for that. We are not making deep$-$seated changes to the way Brooks Union operates; we are simply adding more services. I did not plan to announce this today, but I had planned to make you the Vice President of Medical Affairs as well. Dr$.$ Zafar has agreed to be the Medical Director of Alternative Treatments and Wellness, explained Jim.Well that really is an honor, Jim. However, I still feel like its me or her, said Dr$.$ Blau as he excused himself and left the room. As he walked out, $6$ of the $12$ other Leadership Management Team members walked out with him. The ChallengeJim knew that there were going to be some growing pains, but he certainly didnt know that they would entail possibly losing half of his executive staff. Many of the members had been with the organization for decades. They knew the history and more importantly, they knew the culture of the staff and the community. That would be a lot to lose. On the other hand, the Board of Directors let go of Mr$.$ Dennis for keeping the hospital status quo. Aside from bringing in noted cardiologists, Mr$.$ Dennis took the approach that if it isnt broken, dont fix it$.$Was it possible to strike a compromise?Did it really have to be Dr$.$ Blaus way or Dr$.$ Zafars way?She could always find another job, Jim found himself thinking, She is a valuable resource these days, especially with the way health care is changing. Jim decided to sit down and write a letter$/$memo to the Leadership Management Team informing them of his decision. Writing AssignmentAfter reading the case study, Jim has asked you to help him write the letter$/$memo to the Leadership Management Team. Be sure to address the following in his letter$/$memo to the team: Discuss the path that Jim has decided to take with the hospital. Remember to provide reasoning for this decision. Discuss the future of both Drs$.$ Blau and Zafar regardless of which direction Jim decides to take. Remember, since Jim is the President and CEO it is essential that he is tactful and professional at all times. When Jim details the next steps that the hospital will take, remind the Leadership Management Team that they need to be stewards of the new path. This means that Jim must also gain the support of these executives in order to be successful in implementing his plan. In the closing, cite the benefits of your recommendations. Remember, Jim is thoughtful, concise, and diplomatic. The letter$/$memo should reflect this when you are making recommendations. Finally, remember this is the first correspondence that Jim will have with the Leadership Management Team Remember, since you are consulting, you strive to gain additional business from the company. Be succinct, truthful and tactful when making recommendations. Establish your credibility for future projects through your skillful analysis and solutions. The contents of this letter$/$memo will help to set the tone of the leadership style that Jim will enact. $2019$ A