It’s that time of year again! You know the one where Marketing and Public Relations staff is called upon to help promote and shower the entire hospital staff with seven days of good will, trinkets and most importantly, food! Here come the mounds of bacon and butter for Pancake Day, the fountains of chocolate with fruit for dipping, cake and punch, and hot dogs and hamburgers to top off the week with a cookout!
The hubbub of celebrating National Hospital Week can seem like just a time to pack on the pounds, instead of an opportunity to highlight the great work we do for our community and patients. Sure, there is nothing wrong with indulging in some food and fellowship with our fellow employees, but National Hospital Week is really a time to showcase to our communities the importance of healthcare, our healthcare workers, and the impact we make on our communities. Most of us are probably one of the largest employers if not the largest employer in our communities and often we are overlooked and under-recognized for the contributions we make.
Over the years, we have struggled with this at Henry County Medical Center. How do we get our community involved and engaged with us? How do we get to know them before they walk through our doors with a health emergency? We have hosted community receptions, tours, and events, which can be of benefit, but usually the turnout doesn’t justify the effort. So, how do we reach our community? How do we showcase our organization?
Use the Power of Social Media to Engage Your Employees and Community.
#hcmclove #hcmcmyhospital
Last year we jumped on the social media wave and developed a campaign to encompass both National Nurses Week and National Hospital Week that gave our employees the opportunity to show how much they love our hospital. We built it off the #myhospital concept presented in a tool kit from the American Hospital Association. We developed a logo and asked our employees and physicians to take photos and post using #hcmclove, #myhospital, #hcmcmyhospital. We also featured quotes in our advertising from various employees with their photos and used the hashtags in our ads to encourage the community to learn more. We had employees do short videos about why they love HCMC. Everything was used on our YouTube Channel, Facebook page, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter. We had some champions who posted every single day, multiple times a day because we offered give-aways (gift cards, HCMC merchandise, etc.) We even offered this to our community if they posted photos as well. Our engagement during this timeframe increased significantly. On our Facebook page alone, we saw a 30% increase in those who liked our page and a 50% increase in reach.
This year, we plan to utilize the power of social media by adding to what we developed last year. We are utilizing a Goosechase App and creating teams of employees to take time during the week to make photos at various locations throughout the facility for prizes. These photos can be shared on our social media sites, which showcases hospital employees front and center. People like to see other people they know and with hospital employees’ help, we are getting the message out about our facility and the hardworking healthcare staff.
The key to any social media effort is to find champions within your organization and in the community to help you push the campaign and encourage others to engage.
Sponsor an Event the Whole Community Can Participate In.
Over the years, we have sponsored several events, but last year we partnered with Air Evac to bring in a speaker to focus on disaster preparedness, inviting the city and county governments, police departments, fire departments, 911, and the community. Twisting Your Disaster Plan - Lessons Learned from the 2011 Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tornadoes was a success and included both a morning and afternoon session. This year we are again partnering up with Air Evac to be a part of a community luncheon and open house at their base. We are offering a free seminar and Paint Party with one of our physicians to learn more about one of our service lines. Our Radiology Department is hosting a regional meeting during Hospital Week as well.
There are many other options, too. Put on a golf tournament or a fun run and open it up to the whole community. This is a great way to get people active and participating in something that is healthy and fun. Charge a fee for participation and donate it to a cause that is important to your community. Think outside the box and look for events that can entice different groups of the community to come into your doors and learn more.
Find a Way to Invite the Community In.
During Hospital Week, we always offer a community health fair right inside the front doors of our facility. This year is no exception. To ensure we attract an audience each year, we look for something different to offer. We add different screenings like a pulmonary function or sleep disorders screenings and we set up informational booths with give-aways for our community. This year, we are going to have a local radio station broadcast live during the screening, which offers information for those who can’t physically be at our screening. Typically, we will have anywhere from 100 to 150 participants at our screenings.
Wellness fairs are a great opportunity to help share the resources that your hospital has to offer as well as connect community members with other local resources for health and wellness. Use this opportunity to share what you have to offer and give away some swag to help keep this information top of mind for attendees after the event is over. Another option that we have done is a Drive Thru for You event, where we promote our services by having people “drive through” our front entrance to pick up a free sacked breakfast with literature about our hospital and services. Last time we did this event, we had over 200 people “drive thru” to learn more about our services.
Whatever you decide to do, remember to promote your services and staff in a way that invites the community in and encourages your employees to interact with the community. Your hospital is a support system for the entire community. You can celebrate hospital week by sharing information about your hospital with the rest of the community, both virtually and in person.
By Tory Daughrity | May 10, 2016
SHSMD Digital Engagement Task Force Member
Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Henry County Medical Center
Paris, TN
tdaughrity@hcmc-tn.org