Shouldice Hospital

Shouldice Hospital Limited

A Brief History:

Dr. Edward Earle Shouldice graduated from the University of Toronto in 1916. By 1940, Dr. Shouldice was operating a private medical and surgical practice, lecturing at the University of Toronto, and pursuing research work in areas of advancing medical knowledge. During World War II, he was called to serve on the Medical Examining Board. Dr. Shouldice, a major in the army, found that many young men willing to serve their country had to be denied enlistment. These men needed surgical treatment to repair their hernias before they could be pronounced physically fit for military training.

In 1940, hospital space and doctors were scarce, especially for this non-emergency surgery that normally took three weeks of hospitalization. Dr. Shouldice resolved to do what he could to alleviate the problem. Contributing his services at no fee, he performed an innovative method of surgery on seventy of these men, hastening their induction into the army. The delighted recruits soon made known their success stories and by the war's end, more than 200 civilians had contacted the doctor and were awaiting surgery. The scarcity of hospitals beds however, created a major problem. There was only one solution; Dr. Shouldice decided to open his own hospital.

Facts of the Hospital:

Location: The hospital was located in Toronto in the southern part of Canada and 48% of the demand was from northern U.S.

Layout: The Shouldice Hospital has two basic facilities; hospital and the clinic in one building. The rooms are design such that the patients have an opportunity to visit each other and this helped to create a service culture with the help of the people who worked for the Shouldice hospital.

Capacity Planning: Shouldice was constructed with a capacity of 36 beds. After some years passed, they improved the capacity of the hospital to 89 beds.

Service Encounter: There is a sensible service culture in Shouldice. Training in Shouldice technique is important since the procedure could not be varied. The patients, who were experienced hernia operation in Shouldice, can return their normal daily lives much before the other patients that had experienced the similar operation at other hospitals. And the recurrence rate for all operations performed at Shouldice is about 0.

The Unique Selling Point of the Hospital

"There is No Substitute for Experience". Shouldice Hospital has been dedicated to the repair of hernias for over 55 years. The trained team of Shouldice Hospital surgeons have repaired more than 300,000 hernias with a greater than 99% success rate.

Surgeons at Shouldice Hospital have a virtual 100% success rate performing primary inguinal indirect hernia repairs. Shouldice Hospital has offered its Medical Guarantee for more than 55 years.

Shouldice's strategic service concept

The patients at the Shouldice center take some of care of themselves. In Shouldice, all the patients were encouraged to walk up and down the halls and to get in dialog with the other patients and the surgeons. In thought of encouraging the patients, the steps between the floors are constructed with a smooth inclination, there are not TV's at the bedrooms and the rooms were designed as if it were a home instead of a hospital. Every square foot of facility is carpeted to reduce the hospital feeling and the possibility of a fall.

The Key Success Factor:

The Shouldice Hospital case demonstrates an excellent example of a well-developed, focused service delivery system. Shouldice has been remarkably successful in its ability to not only provide its patients with a quick, quality and low cost surgery but also providing an unforgettable experience and comfortable environment to all of its patients. Shouldice Hospital success is due to a number of factors ranging from their warm environment to their surgery techniques.

Secondly, Shouldice Hospital is psychologically appealing to patients receiving surgery, they are able to associate with other patients receiving the procedure to compare notes and discuss concerns and ultimately alleviate any anxieties with other patients. Lastly, Shouldice Hospital has a high success rate; Dr. Shouldice technique is far superior to others.

The Strategies Followed:

* Social enterprise:

When we talk about a social enterprise, the whole hospital experience is reduced to the bare minimum. Firstly the entire floor is carpeted to get rid of the hospital feel. This also helps in reducing the disinfectant smell. The policy is that a friendly environment will help in faster recuperation. To meet this objective the patients are given rooms that they share with a roommate who is generally from a similar professional background or shares similar hobbies. This encourages building of partnerships and sharing of medical notes.

Further the patients are encouraged to enjoy their meals in the common cafeteria, so that they get a chance to interact not only with other patients but also with other doctors. The most crucial aspect of this treatment is the post-operative treatment that they get. No television or telephone is kept in the room. Thus the patient compulsorily has to walk down the specially constructed stairs and come to the common room to avail of these facilities. This has a dual impact. Firstly the patient recovers mentally and considers himself fit and healthy. Secondly the little exercise helps in fast healing.

* Market Segment:

The target market for Shouldice Hospital was basically healthy people who they perceived would heal and recover faster. Also these patients were the ones who were detected with a primary inguinal, which was the most common kind of hernia. More complicated cases, especially those involving patients with other health problems, were not undertaken.

This kind of target market served several advantages.

The primary advantage of admitting only healthy people was that the duration of the patient in the hospital was drastically cut down. Thus new patients could be admitted with a higher frequency. This becomes highly crucial given the scenario that the hospital was a non-profit organization and only the clinic generated profits. So by cutting down on the stay of the patient costs could be reduced substantially.

Further, since the patient is healthy enough to walk around the place, his linen need not be washed regularly and can be changed only after he leaves the