SHSMD Annual Conference Sessions | Crisis Communications

  1. Rising Above: How to Survive When Your Community is Rocked by Crisis
     
  2. When Tragedy Strikes Will You Be Prepared: Insights and Stories from Orlando Health
     
  3. Ditching the Silos: Developing a Crisis Communication Plan that Works Across a Health Care System
     
  4. Keep Calm: How to Reposition Alarmist Language to Calm and Reassure Audiences
     
  5. Internal is Also External: Aligning Crisis Communications for Employees, Stakeholders and Media Across a Multi-hospital Health System

 

Rising Above: How to Survive When Your Community is Rocked by Crisis

Crisis always strikes when you least expect it. Last summer, Baton Rouge faced a triple dose of tragedy: the shooting of an African American man that sparked national outrage, the subsequent shooting of six police officers, and the devastating flood that displaced thousands of residents. In this session, hear from Baton Rouge General about how they found new ways to communicate when traditional avenues weren’t available, how video and social media became vital to getting their message out, why communicating compassionately is key, and how they increased employee engagement to its highest levels during this distressing time.

Presenters:

  • Carlie Boudreaux, Communications Specialist, Baton Rouge General Medical Center
  • Meghan Parrish, Director of Marketing and Communications, Baton Rouge General

 

 

When Tragedy Strikes Will You Be Prepared: Insights and Stories from Orlando Health

In the early morning hours of Sunday, June 12, 2016, Orlando became the site of the worst mass shooting by a single gunman in our nation’s history. Forty-four victims were brought to Orlando Health’s Orlando Regional Medical Center, home of the area’s only Level One Trauma Center. While our nation is still grappling with the impact of what occurred at the Pulse nightclub and so many other mass tragedies, emergency care providers now have the added challenge of preparing for the unthinkable. In this session, leaders of the Orlando Health team will share what they were prepared for that night and the lessons learned from experiencing what no one could have ever imagined happening in their medical center.

Presenters:

  • Michael Cheatham, MD, is Chief Surgical Quality Officer of Orlando Regional Medical Center and Chairman of Orlando Health Surgical Group
  • Mark Jones, President of Orlando Regional Medical Center

 

 

Ditching the Silos: Developing a Crisis Communication Plan that Works Across a Health Care System

Is your hospital part of a system with facilities of varying sizes and staff - particularly for communications? Do you feel like you're an island who has to handle everything on your own? What if a crisis occurs? When the MarCom team at OSF health care was centralized it became clear there was no standard procedure when it came to crisis communications. Each hospital followed old rules without tapping into the resources of a centralized marketing-communications team. This session will cover how OSF health care took 70 MarCom members across 13 facilities and developed a crisis communication plan for all.

Presenters:

  • Scott Lungwitz, Web Coordinator, OSF HealthCare 
  • Shelli  Dankoff, Media Relations Program Manager, OSF HealthCare
     

 

 

Keep Calm: How to Reposition Alarmist Language to Calm and Reassure Audiences

Accreditation is a sign of quality and can be an important consideration in patients’ decision-making. What happens when an organization loses accreditation and state agencies get involved? Learn how one hospital turned the tide and preserved public opinion.

Presenters: 

  • Karen Brodbeck, Vice President, Public Relations, OSF HealthCare 
  • Diane Schuette, Vice President Strategic Marketing, OSF HealthCare

 

 

Internal is Also External: Aligning Crisis Communications for Employees, Stakeholders and Media Across a Multi-hospital Health System

Northwestern Medicine is a nationally recognized health system with 30,000 employees and 4,000 physicians providing world-class care at 10 hospitals and more than 200 locations throughout Chicago, the suburbs and northern Illinois. In a single year, its communications team was challenged to communicate the evacuation of one of its hospitals due to flooding and an armed intruder event in which a nurse was taken hostage. Our aligned internal and external communications staffing structure and response process helped us effectively communicate both events internally across the system and message key stakeholders while managing national media response.

Presenters: 

  • Heather Cunningham, Director, Communications, Northwestern Medicine
  • Christopher King, Director, Media Relations & Communications, Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital