Changing Dynamics of the New York General Hospital Population: A Case of Too Much Government Interference?

This paper explores the effect of government regulations on mortality of health care organizations. Specifically, we study the effects of two government regulations, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and the Certificate of Need Regulation, on the growth and mortality rates of hospitals in New York State. The hospital system in New York has gone through dramatic ecological changes as a result of both federal and state mandates. However, these regulations have negatively affected hospitals' growth and their mortality. The current literature on organizational ecology does not adequately explain the potential unintended negative consequences of government regulation. We used a population ecology approach to organizations to investigate this phenomenon.