in this case study we focus on a Dutch hospital. Mergers and acquisitions from the 1990s onwards resulted in less than 100 general hospitals in the Netherlands in 2011. On average these hospitals employed 5,000 people. The New Health insurance Act of 2006 has put enormous pressure on healthcare organisations to increase service quality and reduce costs. Given the ageing population of many western countries such as the Netherlands, the Dutch hospitals are confronted with multiple challenges that are interlinked:
● the ageing population increases healthcare demands because more older citizens require more care and cure services;
● the baby boom generation is about to retire and only few young people are willing and able to work in healthcare;
● the Dutch government is forced to cut costs on healthcare causing limited financial resources for healthcare organisations, their employees and their activities.