Abstract
ABSTRACT This study explores the transformations implemented by health authorities in a hospital over the last forty years with the purpose of institutionalizing geriatrics in the Chilean public health system. The transformations have been implemented through a process of identity conversion that had implied high levels of ambiguity due to the contradictory coexistence of the old hospital's identity with the new geriatric practices. These ambiguities are associated with the erratic, precarious support provided by state authorities to the development of the public geriatric framework. Through the handling of images, authorities have paradoxically amplified the achievements of these transformations, thus promoting apparent complacency in internal and external audiences.
Highlights
This article is based on a study conducted in a Chilean public hospital that has experienced discontinuous incremental transformations in its organizational identity over the last forty years
Several pieces of evidence suggest that the National Geriatric Institute (NGI) has an ambiguous identity, which is a source of stress and confusion for both internal and external audiences (Feldman, 1991; Martin, 1992; Meyerson, 1991)
This article delves into the understanding of NGI’s ambiguous identity, a situation caused by the contradictory coexistence of elements of the old hospice with the new geriatric healthcare approach
Summary
This article is based on a study conducted in a Chilean public hospital that has experienced discontinuous incremental transformations in its organizational identity over the last forty years. Ambiguity is linked to complex hierarchical relationships, imprecise goals, confusing result assessments, and unstable political support from authorities The emergence of such phenomena is more intense in service organizations, public hospitals, universities, professional groups, government advisories, and businesses that make an intensive use of knowledge (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2003; Denis, Langley, & Cazale, 1996; Gioia & Chittipeddi, 1991; Feldman, 1991; Meyerson, 1991; McCabe, 2009). This leads to the creation of cultural formulations of “metameanings” that aim to neutralize inconsistencies while giving them a positive spin and the flexibility to handle identities that may display different values and meanings (Alvesson, 2003)
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