Where Do We Go From Here? Community Ties Are Vital.
Jean Hitchcock, president, Hitchcock Marketing and Communications
If there’s a silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, it is that there appears to be renewed respect between communities and the hospitals that serve them.
“A lot of healthcare providers have suffered from the loss of their leading roles in their communities,” says Jean Hitchcock, president of Hitchcock Marketing and Communications in Woodstock, Maryland.
“People started thinking of (healthcare providers) as big companies that did not care about their communities. I think this whole experience is really going to re-establish healthcare providers as an absolutely essential resource in a community.”
Cliff Daniels, chief strategy officer at Methodist Hospital of Southern California in Arcadia, California, agrees and says the local community has shown its support through its donations.
“We have seen an outpouring of generosity,” Daniels says. “The people in this community really have a sense of what type of resource the hospital represents to them. Our resources are now stretched, and they want to be sure that we’re going to be there for them now and in the future.”
Regular and consistent communications with the community is a key to building and maintaining a good relationship, says Carol Koenecke-Grant, vice president of strategy & marketing at Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
“One thing hospitals have learned is that the community is really there for them and they really look for the hospital to be that leader and that source of information,” she says. “When you look at the community and what their needs are, you really realize just how important you are as a provider and a community leader.”
Get more insights now on how healthcare systems should be thinking about moving forward, including the key role of local communities:
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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