Human health is vital for human survival; a health care system forms a core system in any nation. There are different units within the health care system, which can also be referred to as sub-sections, which need to be operational for the health care system to be successful. A hospital is a subsection of a national health care system, and it has different departments, which can be analyzed as separate systems, however for the entire system to operate smoothly all the departments have to work in cooperation. Different stakeholders such as doctors and the government play a leading role to ensure health care system offers its required services. Services offered by such a system have to be affordable to the public and easily accessible if the system does not serve its intended target population it cannot be considered successful. The US health system operates under the ministry of health, which oversees all the activities in the private, and public health centres.The Huntsville Hospital is a leading health care facility in Alabama, it provides general and surgical health care services at cheaper rates since it is a non-profit health care facility. The hospital is part of the US health system whose main goal is to improving health care and offering reliable and affordable health care services.
Productivity in any nation is possible if people are able to access affordable health care, which is a core goal of the Huntsville hospital. It offers health care at low price than other privately owned health care facilities since it is not profit based hence more affordable than other hospitals. The hospital offers acute and chronic health care and has been able to focus on primary health care, which is part of the health care system goals.
The hospital does not operate in isolation, and it forms part of a larger health care system in the US. It has its own goal and mission, which defined its purpose in the health care system. The goal of the hospital is to improve the health of the people it serves. This is in line with the goal of the entire US health system. The system is focused in ensuring that quality health care is delivered to all people. The hospital has offered nurses and other health workers in the US an opportunity to expand their practice, and they are recognized for their hard work in ensuring that quality healthcare is accessible to all. There are awards that are given to the nurses who emerge as the nurses of the month, and this has promoted employees growth, which is a key goal of the US health system. The hospital has also been engaged in medical research work, which is a major contribution in the US health system. Research work helps in developing health solutions and to tackle emerging issues within the health sector; it would be difficult to offer quality health care without incorporating research work. With diverse health services, which include cancer treatment, orthopedics, cardiology, heart surgery and Neurosurgery, the hospital has been a key health care facility not only in Alabama but also in the entire nation. It acts as a referral hospital, other hospitals which do not offer health services such as Neurosurgery and cancer treatment refer their patients to Huntsville Hospital.
In any system, there are challenges, which are encountered in its operations, and Huntsville hospital goes through the many challenges facing the health care system in the US. Currently, there is a shortage of nurses with the ration of nurses to patients being 1:3.Nurses is faced with huge workloads they try to ensure that patients receive quality health care. The hospital is a non-profit institution, and this poses a financial challenge especially with the rising cost of medical equipment’s as well as drugs. Many of the nurses have been trained on acute health care services, when handling chronic cases it is challenging to get the qualified nurses to do such a job. The rising cost of health care services is a challenge even to the patients, many of them cannot afford to pay for health care services such as neurosurgery, and this is a key challenge towards provision of quality health care. The government has played a key role ensuring that health care is affordable to all, but it has put very little effort in motivating health workers. Some nurses have opted to work in private hospitals, which are profit based, and this is a challenge to the hospital since it has to compete for nurses and other health care providers with other health institutions. The increase in chronic illnesses is a major challenge in the hospital. The facilities within the hospital cannot serve all the patients at the same time.
The hospital has been able to put in place various feedback mechanisms to handle the various challenges. Shift programs for the nurses have been introduced whereby nurses work in shifts, this strategy has been effective in addressing the shortage of nurses. New equipments are being put in place that will be used in cancer treatment; patients are encouraged to take health insurance cover to ensure that they receive quality health care without worrying about the cost.
References
HEALTH Hospitals. (n.d.). US News. Retrieved May 25, 2014, from http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/al/huntsville-hospital-6530510
