How Nebraska Medicine Stepped Up Its Already-Robust Communications During COVID

Frank Lococo, vice president of marketing and communications, Nebraska Medicine

Nebraska Medicine is a global leader in infectious diseases, and its experts have been in demand since the earliest days of the pandemic — locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Nebraska Medicine held the first U.S. COVID-19 press conference in January 2020, well before a global pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization. The following month, 13 American passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that had almost 700 onboard infected with the coronavirus arrived back in the U.S. They were taken directly to Nebraska Medicine’s biocontainment unit, built after the 9/11 attacks and later used to treat Ebola patients in 2014.

During every stage of the pandemic, Nebraska Medicine’s marketing and communications team stepped up to deploy timely and accurate information from the organization’s infectious disease experts to a world desperate for reliable, actionable knowledge as infections, hospitalizations, and deaths surged. “We are their megaphone,” says Frank Lococo, vice president of marketing and communications.

The team worked closely with other departments, figured things out on the fly, and reached millions of site visitors, answering their questions and empowering them to make sound decisions. “It felt like we were making a big difference, and I think that was a huge source of pride to the team,” says Jason Bash, manager of digital communications.

The opportunity to be recognized for all they had accomplished in a period of time that will go down in history came in the form of the eHealthcare Leadership Awards.

Nebraska Medicine was one of three health systems that took home top honors in 2021, winning the Mark Gothberg eHealthcare Organizational Commitment Award, as well as platinum awards in four other categories: Best Digital Internal Communications, Best Healthcare Content, Best Digital Marketing Campaign, and Best Integrated Marketing Campaign.

Read the full story now:

Nebraska Medicine Receives the Mark Gothberg eHealthcare Organizational Commitment Award

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