Case Study: Hill Country Memorial

1 Situation

Hill Country Memorial (HCM) is an 86-bed nonprofit hospital located in Gillespie County, Texas that offers a variety of health care services to 10 neighboring counties. With an existing team of 650 employees, 200 volunteers, and 140 medical staff, this community supported hospital has become a high class facility that provides expert services for many kinds of issues such as disease prevention and wellness, diagnostic and acute care, and home and hospice care. Since opening its doors to the public on Feb 14, 1971, HCM has become an institution liked by patients and health care givers because of their genuine care for the people of the community.

The hospital provides a variety of health care services to patients, including a cardiac rehabilitation program, community fitness trail, indoor community fitness and therapy pool, women’s pavilion, cancer resource center, ICU equipment and furnishings, digital mammography unit, angiography equipment, single patient rooms, computed tomography scanners, and preoperative classes that help prepare and inform patients about surgeries and recovery. HCM’s Restore Joint Center performs more than 400 joint replacements annually.

The Texas Hospital Association reported in September 2013 that HCM was designated as part of Top 100 Hospital by Truven Health Analytics for two years in a row, and is nationally ranked #1 in Patient Satisfaction. Nationally, HCM ranks 57th out of almost 3200 hospitals for value based purchasing performance. HCM also holds the record as the first hospital in the US to offer a five star Ratings and Review system. In recent history, the hospital was among four winners of the prestigious 2014 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a presidential honor that recognizes excellence in seven areas: leadership, strategic planning, patient focus, analysis and knowledge management, workforce focus, operations focus, and results.

Financially, HCM prides itself for being a non-tax supported...