Just today, there was exciting news that New York doctor Craig Spencer (who returned to America with Ebola) was officially released from the hospital with “a clean bill of health”. The Wall Street Journal author, Melanie Grayce West, focused on the 33 year old’s heroic act of helping those with Ebola in Africa. This article reminded me of the finance and accounting lessons we had in class. We learned that business decisions-especially monetary decisions, depended largely on RISK. So why did New York take such risk? What was the return?

RISK: Ebola, a highly contagious deadly disease, caused a global health scare. The fact that an infected patient returned to New York without quarantine caused public outrage. Below is one example of such reaction:

Accepting such patient, especially without proper cure available, must have been an extremely risky decision. Failure to cure this patient could lead to citizens blaming the government, blaming the hospital and anyone they can.

RETURN: I loved how the moment Dr. Spencer was released, dozens of pictures and videos were released of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio hugging Dr.Spencer. Whether this was intentional or not, successfully curing Dr.Spencer certainly impacted Mr. de Blasio’s image as the leader in a positive way. Although he wasn’t the one curing Dr. Spencer, he still got the positive spotlight. The politician’s brand image seemingly improved (just by accepting Dr. Spencer), and it was certainly worth the risk.

The original article is called “New York Hospital Releases Patient” by  Wall Street Journal author, Melanie Grayce West.