Hospitals must embrace an embedded culture of continuous improvement, rather than use continuous improvement as a superficial fix. The diverse processes, complex quality standards, multiple hierarchies, and hundreds of employees make hospitals complex systems. Hospitals, unlike smaller healthcare organizations, provide various services given by different levels of employees. At the same time, many hospitals in the United States suffer from medical errors and inefficient practices. Through the complexities and culture of the hospital system, quality of delivered care is compromised. This thesis highlights the need for continuous process and quality improvement in hospitals. Data are drawn from work experience and a series of qualitative interviews which stress the importance of proper buy-in from leaders and empowerment of front-line staff. This thesis examines two hospital systems, with examples of an embedded culture of continuous improvement and of a temporary fix of improvement. Without a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration, quality of care is compromised. Therefore, hospitals must embrace an embedded culture of continuous improvement instead of superficial improvement efforts.