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Rural Health SWOT Analysis Results
Survey by Tim Size at RWHC with eleven “rural health expert respondents” as of 12/3/03
Respondents were asked to reflect on the Strengths and W
eaknesses of providers in their community
and the Opportunities and Threats faced by these providers.
The “focus organization” for the SWOT analysis was a “virtual organization” made up of the local
health care “system”—the hospital, physicians, long-term care providers, public health, etc. in the
community even though they are likely part of multiple corporations.
The context requested was that of the local system’s ability to meet the need of the community for
local access, high quality care and reasonable costs.
For each part of the SWOT, in bold there is a summary statement along with those bullets which seem
to be part of an overall theme (both very subjective attempts at synthesis by the surveyor).
Strengths: Local Knowledge & Creative Problem Solving
• Rural people know rural issues and are creative in solving their problems i.e. regional
collaboration, cross training of staff etc
• Committed primary care physicians
• Employees dedicated to their community's needs
• Strong commitment by hospital board to rural health
• Small-scale providers with greater ability to adapt/respond
• Quality of life
• We have most of the pieces in place and most of these providers (mental health, social services,
etc ) are very willing to work together toward common goals. We have recently organized a
quarterly meeting of the leadership of all of these entities to make sure we aren’t working at cross-
purposes or duplicating efforts
• Nine doctors provide OB services, two of which are OB/GYN’s
• Three nursing homes and four assisted living facilities limits outmigration
• Strong component of specialists (18 different disciplines) from Madison and surrounding area
• Good transportation
• Hospital has strong affiliation with tertiary care facility
• Strong and many groups of EMT’s
• Strong school systems
• Committed workforce; willing to sacrifice higher compensation for opportunity to serve local
community and have direct contact with patients
• Leeway to focus on areas of strength, niche services, etc
• Ability to exert some control over one's destiny (less influenced by regional trends/competition)
• Commitment to providing quality care
• Employees knowledgeable regarding quality improvement strategies