Managing organizational challenge and change: closing an inpatient unit

The effects of a turbulent health care delivery market have impacted the day-to-day reality of acute care hospitals. One effect is that the supply of acute care hospital beds currently exceeds the demand, a trend that is expected to continue to the year 2000 and beyond. Nursing administrators at St. Marys Hospital Medical Center made the decision to close an inpatient unit in order to better match acute care bed supply to existing demand. Decision support for closure, organizational change, and lessons learned from the closure process are discussed.