In the past year alone, R&J Public Relations has been involved in two distinct examples of how proactive and transparent communications can help healthcare institutions succeed in challenging times. The first is Altoona Regional Health System in Altoona, Pa., which recently faced a potential nurses’ strike that threatened to unionize its entire nursing staff and negatively impact hospital services. The second was in New Jersey, where a trio of Southern New Jersey hospitals petitioned to halt participation for nine other New Jersey hospitals in an ongoing national demonstration project involving elective angioplasty being performed at facilities without cardiac surgery capabilities. The first situation threatened to disrupt a hospital system for an undetermined period of time while irreparably damaging public trust in that institution. The second threatened an important scientific project that has the potential to improve cardiac care for every resident of New Jersey, while simultaneously improving the economic outlook for hospitals across the state. Open and transparent communication was the key to managing both situations.
Absent the halo effect, how can hospitals in these types of crises remain in good standing with their constituents? For starters, hospitals can take a page from the playbook of the corporate sector and adapt to an operating environment in which halos aren’t granted, but rather earned. Many of the best-run hospitals already excel in this area, striving constantly to keep their constituents informed through proactive communications programs and build their “bank accounts of goodwill” with the community. That goodwill comes in incredibly handy in times of crises, when the public inevitably looks to make a withdrawal.
In the Altoona Regional Health Systems example issue, our agency helped the hospital system communicate its position openly on the local nursing union’s demands to eliminate “freedom of choice” for all RNs, requiring them to join the union, or suffer a strike. The system felt that this would not only have detrimental repercussions on its ability to provide quality and competitive care, but also the economic strength of the community. The system’s aggressive campaign reached stakeholders including the media, community leaders, funders and staff. Ultimately, the nursing union agreed to step back and a strike was averted.
The nine northern and central New Jersey hospitals referenced above adopted a highly-effective communications posture by uniting to launch an open and aggressive public education/outreach campaign designed to “set the record straight” on the demonstration project and elective angioplasty in general. Through aggressive outreach to the media, hospital employees, legislators, regulators and the general public, these nine hospitals succeeded in demonstrating the importance of the project to the future of healthcare in New Jersey, as well as the exceptional safety records of the hospitals involved. This was a highly complex and confusing issue that could only have been managed through open, honest dialogue with every constituent affected. As a result of our efforts, the hospitals were granted permission to continue their participation in the study, and have been positioned as leading providers of advanced cardiac care in New Jersey.
Corporations have long had to work to protect their reputations in the market with various stakeholders, avoiding crises whenever possible and managing them effectively whenever necessary. The time has come for all hospitals to take the same approach and make open, transparent communications a cornerstone of their operational strategies. Now, more than ever, it is essential for hospitals to help their communities appreciate the life-saving services they afford and to engender public support for their continuing mission to provide those services for many years to come.
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