Critical Thinking: Strategies In Decision-Making

As a newly promoted Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer of Faith Community Hospital, the first day was positive and filled with excitement. As the day progressed, the CEO provided information about different situations that have been occurring at the hospital. There was soon a realization that Faith Community Hospital faced many problems. As the Executive Assistant to Pat, the CEO, the first assignment is to put together a report in which the problems of organization, ethics, communication and financial management encountered at Faith Community Hospital will be addressed and solutions will be implemented to take impact within an estimated time frame.

The Mission Statement for Faith Community Hospital is vague and very general with limited direction for the healthcare providers of Faith Hospital. Providers have different interpretations for this statement and in some occasion basic disregard. This leaves the hospital with a week sense of accomplishment, unity, and pride reflected through the staff member's actions and attitudes, in effect revealing a lack of organization.

In order to improve and provide a sense of unity in this mission statement, it will need to reanalyze, regenerated and rewritten. This includes the need to identify the purpose and goals of the hospital. This is achieved by identifying the hospital's reason for existence, its desired future state, and the principles that direct decision-making. (Organizational Solutions, LLC, 2006).

Another important point that needs to be indicated is the strategy in which the hospital's goals are attained. Once the mission statement is rewritten, members and partners need to be familiar with and follow it. They will also be rewritten to come up with an interpretation of this statement, allowing all staff members to view the mission statement on the same level and avoid any misunderstandings.

The Board of Directors of Faith Foundation is not very united in its way of thinking and decision-making. The Board members mainly agree on support of purpose, value, and survival of Faith Hospital that reflects from the hospital's religious heritage and commitment to the public.

The Board of Directors will need restricting by replacing members with a more unified and organized group that can provide knowledgeable and current ideas without rigid views. This new group will acknowledge that different problems have different solutions.

It is also evident that Pat, the Chief Executive Officer, is not fully aware of what his own role should be. He does not know how to or when to address issues that arise at the hospital. This also reflects lack of organization in those holding leadership positions in the hospital administration department. Pat is eager to pass down the problems he faces at Faith Hospital to me, the next one in line.

The CEO, as a senior leader, is responsible for coordinating organizational resources and efforts with the future needs of the hospital.