| Course | HS460 Project Design and Management for Health Care |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 1 |
| Paper type | Project charter |
| Length | About 760 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Health Science |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HS460 Unit 1
Six Full Saturdays, Then Hand It Over: A Unit 1 Project Charter for a Weekend Walk-In Session at a Two-Site Family Practice
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HS460: Project Design and Management for Health Care
Unit 1 Project Charter
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Tillford Family Health, its staff, counts and budget are composite; the sources cited are real.
Title Block
Project: Saturday Walk-In Session. Sponsor: Managing Partner, Tillford Family Health. Project manager: Operations Coordinator. Date: March 4. Version 1.0.
Background
Tillford Family Health has two sites, the main clinic in Tillford and a branch in Stanwick, with four physician partners and two nurse practitioners. Both sites close at 5:00 p.m. on Friday and reopen Monday at 8:00 a.m. The practice's own review of emergency department reports found that about 140 Tillford patients visited the regional emergency department, 31 miles away, on weekends during the last quarter for conditions the practice treats routinely on weekdays: sore throats, urinary symptoms, minor rashes, ear pain and simple cuts. Those visits cost patients a long drive and higher cost-sharing, and they send care outside the practice. The partners agreed in February to test a Saturday morning session at the main clinic.
Objective
Reduce weekend emergency department visits by Tillford patients for minor illness by 25 percent within six months of the first Saturday session, measured from the same emergency department reports.
Deliverables
1. A staffed Saturday rota for twelve weeks, with a named backup for every shift.
2. Written clinical protocols for the session's scope, including a transfer procedure for patients who need emergency care.
3. The main clinic prepared for Saturday use: heat, access, supplies and point-of-care tests.
4. Patient access arrangements: phone message, website notice, a mailed notice to patient households and signage.
5. Six consecutive Saturdays operated at full staffing, followed by a signed handover to the practice manager.
Scope Summary
In scope: walk-in visits for minor acute illness and injury on Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the main clinic. Out of scope: Sunday hours, the Stanwick branch, chronic disease visits and procedures beyond simple wound care. A full scope statement follows in Unit 3.
Budget Ceiling
Total project cost, one-time launch costs plus the first twelve Saturdays of operation, may not exceed 32,000 dollars without the sponsor's written approval. Expected visit revenue will be reported separately and is not netted against cost. The ceiling deliberately sits above the expected budget, because early estimates in projects of every size tend to run optimistic (Flyvbjerg, 2014).
Milestones
Charter approved: March 4. Weekend medical assistant hired: by week 7. Protocols signed by partners: week 8. Patient notices mailed: week 10. First Saturday: week 12. Sixth consecutive full Saturday: week 17. Handover signed: week 18.
The project ends when the practice manager signs for the Saturday session as routine work, not when the first Saturday opens.
Assumptions and Constraints
Assumptions: the two nurse practitioners will agree to a Saturday rotation under their contracts; the landlord will provide weekend heat for an agreed fee. Constraints: the budget ceiling, the twelve-week opening target and the practice's current staffing on weekdays, which cannot be reduced to cover Saturdays.
Risks at Charter Stage
Low turnout in the first weeks, difficulty hiring a weekend medical assistant and a nurse practitioner being unavailable. A full risk register follows in Unit 8.
Authority
The project manager may spend within the approved budget and assign tasks to staff with their managers' agreement. Changes to scope, budget or the opening date require the sponsor's written approval.
Measures the Sponsor Will See
Every second Friday the managing partner gets a single page showing progress against milestones, spending against the ceiling, open risks and decisions needed. After opening, the note adds patients seen per Saturday and the number transferred. The objective itself, the reduction in weekend emergency visits, cannot be measured until three months after opening, because emergency department reports arrive monthly and lag by several weeks; the project hands that measurement to the practice manager at closeout.
Approval
Managing Partner, sponsor, signature and date. Operations Coordinator, project manager, signature and date.
Why the Charter Stays Short
A charter's job is authorization: it gives the project manager the right to begin and the sponsor a basis to judge the work (Project Management Institute [PMI], 2021). Everything beyond what the sponsor must agree to belongs in later documents. Project management texts note that small clinical projects often skip formal chartering and then struggle to say when they are finished (Kerzner, 2017), which is why this charter defines its end first.
References
Flyvbjerg, B. (2014). What you should know about megaprojects and why: An overview. Project Management Journal, 45(2), 6-19. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmj.21409
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling (12th ed.). Wiley.
Project Management Institute. (2021). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (7th ed.). Project Management Institute.
HS460 Unit 1 instructions, in plain terms
HS460 begins by having you charter one health care initiative, often one from your workplace or a case. Expect a title block, background, objective, deliverables, scope summary, budget, milestones, assumptions, risks and approvals. Two pages is usual, because a charter's job is to authorize, not to plan in detail. Write the objective as one sentence with a measurable target and a date. List deliverables as things that can be handed over and checked. Set a budget ceiling and say how revenue is treated. Define clearly how the project ends, and state the project manager's authority and what needs the sponsor's approval. Leave detail to the scope statement and schedule that follow in later units.
How the HS 460 Unit 1 example is put together
A title block names the project, sponsor, manager and date. Background explains the weekend gap with the practice's own emergency visit count. One objective follows: a 25 percent reduction within six months. Five deliverables run from the staffed rota to six full Saturdays and handover. A scope summary, the budget ceiling with revenue kept separate and an early-estimate caution, and dated milestones come next, and the highlighted sentence defines the project's end. Assumptions, constraints, charter-stage risks, the status measures the sponsor will see, authority and a signature block follow. A closing section explains why the charter stays short, citing project management guidance. Every section answers something the sponsor must agree to before work begins.
HS460 Unit 1 rubric: what earns full points
Project charters are commonly graded on clarity of the objective, quality of deliverables, completeness of authorizing elements and professional format. The objective and deliverables usually weigh most: graders look for a measurable target with a date and deliverables written as checkable items rather than activities. Completeness earns credit for sponsor, budget, milestones, assumptions and authority. A defined end point is often rewarded because many student charters describe ongoing operations rather than a project. Brevity is valued; a charter padded with planning detail can lose points. A clean title block and correct citations finish the grade. Charters with vague objectives or no budget limit tend to score low.
HS460 Unit 1 help: mistakes that cost points
The most common shortfall in a charter is an objective without a number or a date. Another is deliverables written as activities, such as work on protocols, which cannot be checked. Some students forget to define the end of the project, so it never stops. Budgets often lack a ceiling or mix revenue into cost. Authority is frequently missing, leaving unclear who can approve changes. Charters sometimes run to many pages of detail better left for later units. For a different initiative, such as a new screening program or a telehealth line, tell us the gap and the sponsor, and we will draft a two-page charter with one measurable objective.
Get an HS460 Unit 1 example written to your instructions
Bring the initiative your section is planning, or the case supplied with the course, along with the Unit 1 instructions and rubric. A free first sample arrives within 24-48h: a two-page charter for that project, its deliverable defined tightly enough that later units can schedule and budget against it. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More HS460 papers and BS in Health Science samples
- HS460 Unit 2: Discussion Board Post
- HS460 Unit 3: Scope Statement
- HS460 Unit 4: Work Breakdown Structure
- HS460 Unit 5: Stakeholder Register
- HS460 Unit 6: Schedule and Milestone Plan
- HS460 Unit 7: Budget Worksheet
- HS460 Unit 8: Risk Register
- HS460 Unit 9: Seminar Reflection
- HS460 Unit 10: Project Closeout Report
- HS450 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
HS460 Unit 1 questions, answered
Does the project have to be a real one?
Often not, but many sections encourage an initiative you have seen at work, because realistic durations and costs are hard to invent. The example's practice is a composite assembled from typical details. Whichever you choose will carry through the term, so pick something small enough to finish and concrete enough to have dependencies between its parts.
Why does a clinic launch need a defined end?
Because a project that never ends becomes an operation with nobody accountable for finishing it. The example ends when six consecutive Saturdays have run at full staffing and the practice manager takes over the rota, supplies and reporting. After that point the service continues, but the project is closed and can be judged.
Who should be the sponsor in a small practice?
Whoever can authorize the money and settle disputes, usually a managing partner or owner. In the example the managing partner physician signs, while the operations coordinator runs the project day to day. When one person is both sponsor and project manager, nobody is left to approve changes, which graders tend to point out.
Where can I find a free HS460 Unit 1 sample paper?
This page carries the full Unit 1 charter, authorizing a Saturday walk-in session with one objective, five deliverables and a budget ceiling.
Why does a clinic launch need a defined end point?
Without one, a project becomes ongoing operations with project costs. A defined end, such as a signed handover, tells everyone when project spending stops.