West Florida Regional Medical Center
Introduction
West Florida Regional Medical Center (WFRMC) is a for- profit hospital located on the north side of Pensacola Florida. The hospital is a member of the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). Due to the intense competition among the local hospitals for patients in that geographical area, it was necessary for WFRMC to implement a Total Quality Management (TQM) program in order to improve the overall quality of the hospital. There was also major competition among WFRMC, Sacred Heart and Baptist Hospital for young families that needed maternity services, and as a result, there was a great demand for a family-centered birthing system (McLaughlin, Johnson, & Sollecito, 2012). The Obstetrical (OB) unit at WFRMC only offered traditional services. This resulted in the OB division operating significantly below capacity. Therefore, the hospital needed to implement a system in which services were tailored to its consumers’ preference. This would not only contribute positively to the overall quality of the hospital but it was also expected to increase efficiency and make the hospital more competitive.
There were also quality issues throughout some departments that resulted in major inefficiencies and expenses to the hospital. As a result, John Kausch, the CEO of the hospital, a member of HCA’s committee for quality efforts and an active member of the Total Quality Council of the Pensacola Area Chamber of Commerce, (PATQC) used his arsenal of knowledge and experience, to implement a Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program to establish the hospital as a competitor in the health care industry.
Strategic reasons for West Florida Regional Medical Center’s decisions to invest in TQM
During 1992, competition was intense among WFRMC, Sacred Heart and Baptist Hospital (McLaughlin & Kalunzy, 2012). Furthermore, 90 to 95 percent of patients admitted to the regional hospitals were qualified for discounted...