"Special Opportunities" Ruin Everything! -TPH

   I keep trying to figure out where I'm going wrong. I mean, I know I've got problems managing a budget, but there should be a certain point where the hospital makes money. I mean, cures are expensive.

   And then I completed one of the special opportunities that sent 6 patients to my ward. It suddenly all makes sense.
(Image source Artem Bali on Pexels)

   Here's how it happens: An opportunity letter pops up and tells me the scoop. Some are for the ward, some are for the fracture ward, etc. but they're all treatments. Nobody has to get diagnosed, which is a bonus since that's often where things bottleneck.

So How Is That Bad?

   Well, I thought it was good. If you cure more than half of what they send to your hospital, you get 5-15 reputation and $10,000. Since I'm often in the red, that money sounds pretty appealing. Especially if I can micromanage things to push the VIP's through.

   But after I finished the latest opportunity, the celebration was short lived. Just before they came in, I was starting to improve things. It seemed like money was looking up, and my staff were getting trained as specialists and everything. After the opportunity, those six patients had overwhelmed my already struggling ward (it had barely gotten to a functioning level before).

   And then it hit me. I just shoved 6 people through, making maybe $10k max on each of them, which totals $70k at the most. Meanwhile, there's patients waiting to get diagnosed in the same ward. At least some of them would have gone on to other treatments and the ward would stay functional.

   Those other treatment rooms, btw, are mostly sitting empty. So I actually lost money taking the opportunity, because I wasn't capable of handling it without great difficulty.

The Great Lesson

   It's like a bargain you weren't expecting, or a webinar pitch. Sure, it sounds like a great idea in theory, but when the dust settles you'll realize now wasn't the best time to act on it.

   Sometimes missing out on an opportunity is the opportunity you need. Resist the temptation to give in to the psychological marketing continuously urging you to be a habitual, compulsive consumer. Don't just "click here" because it says so after a lengthy sales pitch (no matter how good it sounds).

   Unless you were looking for it. In that case, you were looking, so it's ok.


   Thoughts? Comments? Experiences to share? Comment below or on Facebook.

   See ya next time, Internet Drifters!