Challenge
Highlight the hospital’s history, compassionate care, and details of hospital relocation
Solution
Integration of internal communications, social media, and a media relations campaign
Results
Sweeping media coverage throughout the campaign and hospital opening event
Challenge
St. Anthony Hospital activated GFM to conduct a proactive communications campaign to support the hospital’s move from the 119-year old St. Anthony Central site in Denver to a new Lakewood location. The overall goal was to increase community interest and awareness in the hospital’s upcoming move.
Solution
In addition to providing strategic and execution support for internal communications and social media efforts, GFM managed an aggressive media relations campaign. The team oversaw a series of media events that included sneak-previews and tours and an employee goodbye event/closing ceremony.
Because move day was such an enormous and complex undertaking for the entire hospital staff, GFM worked closely with the hospital’s leadership team to develop a move-day communications plan that maximized visibility for the hospital, provided extensive interview opportunities with the hospital’s leadership team, and provided access to patients and families who had agreed to be filmed and interviewed. Television satellite trucks began broadcasting live at 4:30 a.m. on move day and the last live broadcast report took place at 10 p.m. Move-day news was extended to social networks with ongoing postings and engagement throughout the day.
Results
There were more than 100 television, radio, newspaper and online media stories that ran or aired during the month of the move, and more than 90 percent of this coverage included messages about the move date and existing hospital closure. The team posted some of the most compelling coverage to the hospital’s website and shared the stories through social media channels, further leveraging the reach and impact. GFM earned a Silver Leaf award from the Colorado Healthcare Communicators for the strategy, execution and results achieved for this media relations campaign.
