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  • October 2005 (Revised October 2008)
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Virginia Mason Medical Center

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Erika Ferlins
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:28
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Abstract

In 2000, Dr. Gary Kaplan became CEO of the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. The hospital was facing significant challenges: It was losing money for the first time in its history, staff morale had plummeted, and area hospitals presented ardent competition. Considerable change was imminent. Within his first few months, Kaplan had rallied the organization around a new strategic direction: to become the quality leader in health care. What Kaplan and his administrators lacked was an effective tool to execute their strategy. Soon thereafter, a series of serendipitous events led to the discovery of the Toyota production system, and the Virginia Mason Medical Center became entrenched in an overwhelming challenge: how to institute a production model in health care.

Keywords

Health Care and Treatment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Production; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Problems and Challenges; Quality; Competition; Seattle

Citation

Bohmer, Richard M.J., and Erika Ferlins. "Virginia Mason Medical Center." Harvard Business School Case 606-044, October 2005. (Revised October 2008.)
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Related Work

    • June 2010 (Revised June 2010)
    • Faculty Research

    Virginia Mason Medical Center (Abridged)

    By: Richard M.J. Bohmer
Related Work
  • Virginia Mason Medical Center (Abridged) By: Richard M.J. Bohmer
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