Strategic planning and marketing research for older, inner-city health care facilities: a case study.

Numerous health care facilities, located in downtown metropolitan areas, now find themselves surrounded by a decaying inner-city environment. Consumers may perceive these facilities as "old," and catering to an "urban poor" consumer. These same consumers may, therefore, prefer to patronize more modern facilities located in suburban areas. This paper presents a case study of such a health care facility and how strategic planning and marketing research were conducted in order to identify market opportunities and new strategic directions.