In 2013, the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB Health) was at a crossroads. The 123-year-old academic medical center—with four schools, research enterprise, health system, correctional man-aged care program, and 12,000 faculty and staff spread across 700-plus miles—was experiencing rapid growth.It also was in the midst of a years-long recovery from 2008’s Hurricane Ike, which did $1 billion in damage to the headquarters campus on Galveston Island and closed its hospital for four months. A resulting major reduction in force—coupled with leadership changes and the rapid pace of change in healthcare—had employees feeling uninformed and unsure about the future. General employee satisfaction surveys indicated that communications needed improvement, but the data didn’t show a clear way forward. So, as it was revitalizing a campus, UTMB Health began renovating internal communications as well.Taking It Down to the StudsThe marketing and communications team started with a full inspection of current communications channels, followed by in-person thought-leader interviews and two custom surveys—for managers and employees. Survey data guided topics for a dozen focus groups with managers and front-line staff. As a result, UTMB Health opted to take internal communications “down to the studs.” The resulting infrastructure included four core communications channels: 1) weekly “all hands” meetings between supervisors and employees; 2) a monthly printed newsletter; 3) an internal website; and 4) “Town Hall on the Road,” which gives employees a chance to ask questions of executive leadership.Lessons from the RemodelIn the March/April 2017 issue of SHSMD’s Spectrum magazine, Steve Campbell, vice president of marketing and communications at UTMB Health, Mary Havard, vice president of marketing and communications at UTMB Health, and Kathleen Lewton, principal at Lewton, Seekins & Trestor, share research findings and lessons learned.
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