Abstract

In this dissertation, I argue that a service-based organizational culture for health care institutions, born out of a business modality, respects personhood and promotes the common good. Service-based cultures embrace the uniqueness of the individual and the community. While many strands of behavior can proclaim to support individuals and groups, a service-based culture seeks first to promote the well-being of humanity as a precursor to organizational productivity. ;To support this argument, a critical examination is conducted of the culture of health care, personhood and the common good as basic assumptions of a service-based culture, and the effects of transformative change upon health care institutions. The transformative change relationship between the prevalent business model and the ensuing values model is analyzed in terms of the practical nature of moving between earlier and new models of charity care for health care. ;Traditional models of charity care indicate that a service-based culture operating in a business market fail. However, the failure of the business model to provide adequate health care services to those unable to pay is balanced by a new relationship that seeks as its ultimate end to respect all persons and promote the common good. Through the analysis of a relevant case study and the development of a newer model of charity care, interventions perpetuated by market malfunctions, such as the collaboration of health care business entities and community based-care, legitimize the functionality and failure of the service-market relationship to more appropriately balance the needs of the individual and society. ;A justification for the use of a service-based culture model for health care institutions is supported on the outcomes of implementing collaborative market-community programs based on such a model. Moreover this analysis implies increased organizational productivity and patient and community satisfaction, which directly promotes the nature of persons and communities