Griffin Hospital

Imagine that someone you know is pregnant and is going to the hospital to have a baby. You are helping out by driving her to the hospital. You walk into the hospital parking lot and are met by an attendant who smiles and walks you both to the reception room. You enter a lobby with tasteful wood decor and a friendly receptionist who assigns someone to take the pregnant woman to her room. You follow along and notice soft piano music as you walk down the hallway.

When you get to the room, you see not only big windows and skylights but also a double bed so that the father can stay over if that's what the mother and he would like. Nearby is a spacious, comfortable lounge where family can gather and visit. There is also a home-style kitchen, open 24 hours a day, where family members can prepare meals. There are flowers in the room, and a notice explaining that a Jacuzzi is available.

After the baby is born, a nurse offers to come to the home in three days to see how the mother is doing and answer any questions she may have.

This is not a make-believe hospital. Griffin Hospital really exists, in Derby, Connecticut. And it isn't expensive. The Griffin Hospital operations manager and project architects used computeraided design to create the layout of the maternity ward described above. They then played around with cardboard models and finally built a mock-up room in a warehouse. They invited patients to come see the new room and make comments. They used patient input throughout the process and made the whole hospital customer-friendly.

It probably would not surprise you to learn that turnover among nurses at Griffin Hospital is low and that obstetrics admissions have doubled in the past few years.

1			Hospitals are not the only organizations that could make their facilities more customer friendly. If you were the operations manager in a hotel, how would you redesign the rooms so that your guest's visit would be more pleasant?
2			What could operations managers at other service organizations—like schools, hotels, and concert halls—do to make their customers more satisfied with the experience?
3			What experiences have you had when staying or visiting at a hospital? What could an operations manager have done to make that experience better?
4			What kinds of goods does a hospital provide along with its services?