Arcathia Health Care Organization (HCO) is an organization whose current holdings include a 250-bed hospital, three walk-in clinics, a home health care agency, a rehab facility, and 10 satellite doctors’ offices with a total of 50 doctors working in the satellite offices. Arcathia HCO has a capital investment budget of $50 million for the next three years. They have a list of capital investment options that total $100 million that are possible for the organization to pursue. These options are as follows:
$10 million to start 10 new walk-in clinics across the community, to include facility build out, three years of salaries for staffing, and marketing the expansion of services. Locations for the new clinics will be in low-income, median-income, and upper-income areas of the community. There will be two clinics in the low-income areas, four clinics in the median-income area, and four in the upper income areas.
$5 million for a new electronic health record system that will serve all providers across the organization.
$5 million for cybersecurity automation.
$15 million for a new robotic surgical system plus the cost of 5 years of salary for two physicians trained to operate the system. Additionally, the costs include an update to the operating room to accommodate the new system.
$30 million to purchase and renovate a 100-bed hospital building that was closed 6 months previously due to the current owners losing its Medicare and Medicaid funding. The hospital is located in a suburban community approximately 20 miles away from the Avalon Health Care Organization hospital.
$5 million to purchase and renovate a hospice facility.
$5 million to build a clinical laboratory that will run disease-specific tests for cancer patients.
$25 million to purchase private properties surrounding the existing hospital, raze the existing homes, and build a new structure to house a state-of-the-art birthing center.
Address the following in your initial discussion post:
Select the capital investment projects you would recommend to the hospital leadership. Provide your rationale for the choices made.
Discuss any ethical considerations related to your expenditure choices. Address a minimum of two ethical considerations in your post. They can be from the following list, or you may discuss other ethical issues not identified here:
Use of data (e.g., quantitative and qualitative information) and analytics (e.g., statistical analysis of the data to reveal patterns, correlations, and cause-and-effect relationships) and the affect it has on patients
Safeguarding patient privacy
Equal access to treatments
Reconciling patient care decisions with fiscal responsibility
Implementing artificial intelligence and robotics
Devising ethical responses to pandemics and other widespread medical emergencies (AdventHealth University, 2020)
Equitable patient care
Impact of expansion, both advantageous and detrimental (e.g., increase in jobs versus negative impact on marginalized populations), to the surrounding community.
Your initial post must be at least 250 words and use a minimum of two credible sources to support your discussion content