Purchasing practices in a hospital environment: an ethical analysis

The critical state of the hospital industry, as previously described, generates a difficult decision environment for the materiel manager and those in the purchasing function. The unique life- and death circumstances of hospitals impose a further onus on those who manage them. In the name of saving lives, they can find a convenient excuse to disregard all moral principles, forgetting the Socratic dictum "it is not enough that one lives, but that one lives well." Without the moral "right stuff," they can easily give in to the seductions of momentary gains and glory through ethical short-cuts. There is wisdom and consolation in the words that "nice guys may appear to finish last, but usually they're running in a different race." Studies have established a direct relationship between corporate excellence and ethical values. The reality of competition in the hospital industry dictates that the integration of ethics into the life of the organization should happen by design and not by accident. This is what is meant by strategy. If hospitals would strive for excellence to survive and grow, they should have a strategy with a mission statement that also embodies its moral values and moral agenda. Such an approach does not guarantee that an organization will become immune to moral contamination, but it does provide an antidote.     

Boys. Most dangerous and endangered

As both victims and perpetrators of crime and other pathologies, America's boys need help. An important lesson: Work on solutions with groups, not just individuals.     

Assessing black progress: voting and citizenship rights,residency and housing,education

Farley discusses progress US blacks have made in the areas of voting and citizenship rights, residency and housing, and education. A major goal of the civil rights movement was to permit blacks to influence the electoral process in the same manner as whites. Most important in this regard was the Voting Rights Act of 1965; the proportion of southern blacks casting ballots increased sharply since the early 1960s. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 outlawed racial segregation in public accommodations, but by the turn of the century, Jim Crow laws in southern states called for segregation in most public places. Common customs and government policy in the North resulted in similar segregation of blacks from whites. The Montgomery bus boycott and similar protests in dozens of other cities led to enactment of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which proscribed such racial practices. By the late 1960s, blacks in all regions could use the same public accommodations as whites. In most metropolitan areas, de facto racial segregation persisted long after the laws were changed. Supreme Court decisions and local open-housing ordinances supported the right of blacks to live where they could afford. However the major change was the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which outlawed racial discrimination in the sale or rental of most housing units. The separation of blacks from whites did not end in the 1970s. Today, in areas which have large black populations, there are many central city neighborhoods and a few in the suburbs which are either all-black or are becoming exclusively black enclaves. Most other neighborhoods have no more than token black populations. Another major effort of civil rights organizations has been the upgrading of housing quality for blacks. By 1980, only 6% of the homes and apartments occupied by blacks lacked complete plumbing facilities (down from 50% in 1940). Unlike the modest changes in residential segregation, racial differences in housing quality have been greatly reduced. By 1960, black students approached parity with whites in terms of measurable aspects of school facilities. In 1940, young blacks averaged about 3 fewer years of educational attainment than whites; the time is nearing when the years of schooling completed by blacks and whites will be the same. In small and medium-sized cities throughout the country, public schools are generally integrated. However, the situation in the largest metropolitan areas is very different. Today, large public schools are segregated, in large part, because blacks and whites live in separate school districts.     

Yes, companies can cut health costs

Most corporate medical bills are still rising at a feverish pace. But a growing number of employers are fighting back with a potent remedy: managed-care networks.     

Food shoppers give at a healthy clip

California's City of Hope Medical Center has increased its food industry donations by seven figures through the Coupons of Hope program.