Date of Award

1989

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Business

First Advisor

James Swift

Second Advisor

Marvin Burnett

Third Advisor

Joan Warrington

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to develop criteria for determining an advantageous site for a sportsmedicine facility from among 91 municipalities in greater St. Louis. Two types of clinics, referral base and doctor-in-house, were compared to select the most appropriate type of facility for the specific site.

To facilitate data collection, greater St. Louis was divided into four regions, including the city of St. Louis as one region and three other regions formed from 90 municipalities in the county. For each community, data were gathered on median household income, median age, real estate valuation, and number of schools and hospitals. Distributions for each set of data were established, and factors from one to six were assigned for each variable. A total score was determined for the 91 municipalities.

From the 91 municipalities in the sample, the five with the highest scores were targeted for further study of highway accessibility and public transportation availability. In order of scores, St. Louis and Town and Country tied for the number one position with 24 points, followed by Creve Coeur, Clayton, and Kirkwood. After all available data were considered, it was determined that Town and Country was the best possible site for a sportsmedicine clinic.

The advantages and disadvantages of referral base and doctor-in-house clinics were examined to establish the most appropriate type of sportsmedicine facility for the community of Town and Country. Given the availability of schools and hospitals and highway accessibility, it was decided that a referral base sportsmedicine clinic in Town and Country would have the best potential for marketing success.

Recommendations for further study included the development of a practical marketing plan for the specific clinic location and marketing plans for educating users to the services of sportsmedicine clinics.

Included in

Business Commons

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