Cases in Healthcare FinancePart II Cost Behavior and Profit AnalysisCase 4TULSA MEMORIAL HOSPITALBreak-Even AnalysisTulsa Memorial Hospital (TMH), an acute care hospital with 300 beds and 160 staff physicians,is one of 75 hospitals owned and operated by Health Services of America, a for-profit, publiclyowned company. Nine other acute care hospitals serve the same general population, but Tulsahistorically has been highly profitable because of its well-appointed facilities, its fine medicalstaff, its reputation for quality care, and the amount of individual attention it gives to its patients.In addition, Tulsa operates an emergency department (ED) within the hospital complex and astand-alone urgent care center located across the street from the area’s major shopping mall,about two miles from the hospital.According to aWall Street Journalarticle, urgent care centers are increasingly visited bypatients who need immediate treatment for an illness, such as the flu or a sore throat, or aninjury, such as a nail-gun wound. Urgent care centers are distinguished from similar types ofambulatory healthcare providers, such as EDs and retail clinics, by the scope of illnesses treatedand the presence of on-site facilities. These centers help mitigate the problems of primary carephysician shortages and already crowded (and typically very expensive) EDs. Urgent carecenters, notes theWall Street Journalarticle, are staffed by physicians, offer short wait times,and charge between $60 and $200 per procedure. Furthermore, no appointments are necessary,
