| This research employed a case study approach to examine privatization, governance, regulation and organizational behavior in the context of a public hospital facility's reorganization to a nonprofit entity. The case study was completed at Tampa General Hospital (TGH) in Tampa, Florida. The study's findings indicate that many factors influence privatization's execution and effectiveness, including the political, social, legal and regulatory environments in which it takes place, as well as organizational governance, accountabilities and leadership.; The research methods utilized for this study were exclusively qualitative. Interviews were conducted primarily with expert respondents who were involved in the hospital's reorganization at the governance level, such as physicians and attorneys who served as board trustees pre- and post-privatization, and government officials. In addition, the investigation was supported by extensive research of topical literature on privatization and governance, relevant scholarly discourse, and more than 20 years of news media coverage of case-related events and occurrences.; The study also examined the hospital's privatization and governance in the broader contexts of the evolving U.S. health care industry and government health care policy---not from the customary public policy viewpoint but from the far less frequently explored perspective of the private service provider operating in a competitive marketplace. The study's findings suggest that the impact of privatization on a service provider is dependent on the degree of post-privatization government policy and/or regulatory influence, the skill of the organization's leadership, the compatibility of its governance and business policy structures with prevailing public policy, and the extent to which the organization remains dependent on public funds for solvency. |
