Abstract:
The successful efforts of an energetic director to improve conditions at the Colorado State Hospital lead to an unexpected consequence: legislative budget committee members, after a tour, take the view that the hospital, because it looked so clean and well-managed, must have more funds than it truly needed. As a result, the hospital is asked to absorb a $750,000 budget cut. Funds seem likely to be redirected to another institution which had failed to meet federal regulatory standards.
Learning Objective:
This case allows for discussion of the dynamics of the budget process; specifically it poses the question of how the hospital's management might deal strategically with the impending budget cut.