HPA430: Healthcare Leaderships

Read the case study below.

For several years at Mountains Community Hospital, a small rural community hospital, has had trouble attracting someone to lead their quality improvement department. As a result, a nurse, Ms. Williams, had served as “acting” department director for almost two years. In fact, most people had stopped using the term “acting”, believing she was now the permanent director.

You were just hired, however, to lead the department. Ms. Williams will be remaining in the unit as the associate director. Although this change was clearly a demotion from the prior situation, the CEO was allowing Ms. Williams to keep the raise she was given when she took on the acting department director position. During your first week in your position, Ms. Williams said little about the change; in fact, she was not very communicative at all, even a little unfriendly and curt. At the end of the week, you asked her to come speak to you. You say, “Obviously, this is a challenging situation for both of us. I’d appreciate it if you could talk with me about this.”

Ms. Williams says, “I can see why the hospital prefers someone with your training to lead quality improvement. But, I led this department for two years; my evaluations were great. We even were recognized by JCAHO last year. I know I was only given the title of “acting” department director, but I was never given any reason to believe that this job was not going to be permanent.”

Clearly, to be successful in this job, you will need to forge a relationship, shared vision, and trust with your associate director. Over the weekend, you decide to write Ms. Williams a memo outlining how you think you can make this situation work for both of you.

answer the following question: (short and thorough, no more than a page doubled spaced. Also no need for introduction, just go right ahead and answer the questions)

How can the two of you build a compelling vision for your unit?

How will you get this relationship headed in the direction of loyalty and trust where both of you feel like you are developing your skills and feel energized in your work?