Honor Health Vision

Honor Health is a hospital and physician provider system located in phoenix Arizona. Honor health is relatively new hospital chain, more specifically it is the result of a merger of Scottsdale hospital and the John C. Lincoln Health Network (Alltucker, 2013). Honor Health’s mission statement is relatively short, comprising only a single sentence. Their mission and vision statements are, “To improve the health and well-being of those we serve” and, “To be the partner of choice as we transform healthcare for our communities” (Honor Health, 2015). While their vision and mission statements impart a direction and goal for their organization, the vagueness of both statements may cause problems in guiding targeted strategic initiatives. This essay

will examine how vague mission statements can hinder or assist an organization in reaching strategic plans and the impact this can have on Honor Health.

Mission and value statement should serve an organization by providing an easily understood purpose. Moseley (2009) states that a good mission statement should be short, memorable and broad. Honor Health statement meets these terms, as it is general and only a sentence long. This broadness can be a benefit because it allow flexibility in achieving a state strategic goal, but is this broadness too vague to allow individuals in an organization to connect their performance and effort to the organization’s mission. Randall (2015) states that these statements should rally leaders and staff to want to belong to an organization and provide a general sense of what an organization is trying to achieve. The mission statement provide a broad sense of Honor Health’s goals, but does not state why this goal is important or provide justification. Free (2014) contends that mission statements are lacking and organizations may be better served with providing a purpose and mission statement. This arrangement could provide the same general and broad mission but allow an organization to better justify the organizations purpose to a wider variety of critical stakeholders; such as patients, partners and investors.

While a purpose statement can provide reason of an organizations existence, a vision statement provides a very similar tool. Moseley (2009) states that a vision statement helps an organization define how it will make its mission statement a reality, and needs to contain flexible, reality based goal that accomplishes an organizations mission. Honor Health’s vision of being the partner of choice for their community is driving the organizations planning and efforts to improve care in their community. Honor Health (2015) states in their community benefit assessments; a strategic look and the needs and efforts made to improve health within each of Honor Health’s communities that it serves, that specific needs and weaknesses are addressed and analysis of these allows the organization to address those issues to improve health care delivery.
These assessments are connected the vision of the organization and are guiding the vision to make the vision a reality.

While the outcomes of the effects of newer efforts are unclear, the assessments address specific issues that stand in the way of Honor Health’s mission. Honor Health is effectively using its vision statement to fulfill its mission; to an extent, as its mission and vision are so vague. By identifying data and socioeconomic barriers to care in each individual community it serves; each community is identified by zip codes that surround each hospital and health clinic in the organization, it can purpose and implement initiatives to address specific needs (Honor Health, 2015). While the vision statement is vague, it does provide a broad goal for the organization that can allow a variety of strategies, allowing operational flexibility and room for leadership to implement a diverse definition of organizational mission

accomplishment.
Honor Health faces significant barriers within the specific communities that they serve.

The John C. Lincoln community that was used for this essay is comparatively poorer than the average, with large immigrant populations and face transportation issues that limit the ability of patient to receive both outpatient and emergency care (Honor Health, 2015). The mission statement of Honor Health is broad and perhaps uninspiring to key stakeholders, as is the organizations vision statement. Honor Health could benefit by expanding their mission and vision statements, thus increasing their value in directing and guiding their future strategic plans and goals. Randall’s (2015) assertion that a great organization is only achievable by having specific, measurable and achievable goals that are linked to the organizations vision and mission is correct; while the flexibility of Honor Health’s statements is interesting, the statements could be improved by being more descriptive and personal to the organization reason for existence and

purpose.