The merger of two Texas health systems spawns the state's biggest non-profit healthcare organization, a new mission, a new logo—and a "fiscally responsible" rollout of the new brand, says the CEO.
Rebranding is always a harrowing undertaking even for the smallest of hospitals—it's a true juggling act to seamlessly educate the community, update signage, and, hopefully, improve brand awareness and market share. But for the newly formed Baylor Scott & White HealthCare and its 46 hospitals across the state of Texas, the rebranding process is a whole different animal—and one that could take years.
Baylor Health Care System and Scott & White Healthcare merged to create Baylor Scott & White Healthcare in October 2013, making it the largest non-profit healthcare organization in Texas and giving it a leg-up on Texas Health Resource's 25 hospitals.
From the get-go, the new system's leadership knew they should form one cohesive brand.
"Our board of trustees was clear from the beginning. They wanted us to operate under one brand: Baylor Scott & White Health," Joel Allison, CEO, said in response to my query. "As such, rebranding our facilities is critical to that goal."
The process started with the creation of a new mission: to serve all people by providing personalized health and wellness through exemplary care, education, and research as a Christian ministry of healing.
"Our vision is to be the most trusted name in giving and receiving safe, quality, compassionate health care," Allison says.
With that goal in mind, the health system created a new, cross-shaped logo or mark made of blue and yellow rectangles, which it unveiled to the public in a YouTube video in January. It describes the logo design:
"The new mark represents the coming together of many providers with one focus: the patient we serve, at the center of our efforts," the video states. "Like building blocks, each element of the mark represents the contributions of those of different experiences, backgrounds and beliefs, coming together to form the health care organization we are today and the ideal patient experience. Its cross shape pays respect to the Christian heritage of the organization. And, like a compass, its four directions point to potential expansion."
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Using the redesigned logo, the marketing team began to rebrand print and digital ads, billboards, and TV spots to include language such as, "Baylor Health Care System is now part of Baylor Scott & White Health" and "Scott & White Healthcare is now part of Baylor Scott & White Health."
Both websites—BaylorHealth.com and SW.org—and all social media channels also started using this messaging. Since the day of the merger, marketers have branded all press releases and media kits with the Baylor Scott & White Health name and mark.
With the new mission and logo in place, Baylor Scott & White began rolling out the new brand to its 46 locations. While it was not possible to rebrand all facilities simultaneously, efforts were made to ensure that the new brand was represented on each campus.
"Since we intend to be fiscally responsible about the rebranding effort, one strategy included raising new Baylor Scott & White Health flags at all of our facilities earlier this year," Allison said. "It was a cost-efficient way to promote the new name."
The first facility to showcase the new mark and name was Baylor Scott & White Cancer Center in Waco, which opened in November 2013, just weeks after the merger was finalized. Next, the system announced that a medical campus being constructed in Waxahachie, will be the first regional hospital to be built under the new name. That hospital is expected to open in December.
And early this month, the health system took the first step in rebranding its existing hospitals, changing the name of the 262-bed Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center to Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center.
"One of the most trafficked corridors in Texas, Interstate 35 connects the cities where our two flagship hospitals in the new organization are located—Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas and Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple," Allison says.
"There are two other hospitals in our new system along that corridor, and they will be among the first to bear the new brand's signage—Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center and Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Waxahachie. Soon, as you drive up and down I-35, the Baylor Scott & White Health brand name will be prominent."
To publicize the hospital name change, the health system hosted an event for employees, community leaders, and news media. The sign unveiling was carried live on a 5 p.m. TV newscast in Waco, and appeared in local newspapers.
"We at Baylor Scott & White Health are proud to have deep roots here in Texas, with facilities like Hillcrest that are cornerstones of the communities they have served for decades," Allison said in a media release announcing the Hillcrest rebranding.
"But we are equally excited about the future. Every Baylor Scott & White sign that goes up, including this one today, takes us one step closer to our goal of creating a new, exemplary health system to serve as a model for others around the country to follow."
The health system is hoping to set a good example throughout its branding process, which it promises to will continue to roll out to the remainder of its facilities in a fiscally responsible way. A Baylor Scott & White Health spokesperson declined to provide more details about how this will be done.
HealthLeaders Media LIVE From Baylor Scott & White Health: Clinical Integration , will be held on August 20, 2014, from 11:00 to 2:00 p.m. ET. Participants will learn about the importance of the right cultural fit in making a merger work and discover the six best practice keys to success: synergies, talent management, communication, infrastructure, organizational design, and leadership engagement
Marianne Aiello is a contributing writer at HealthLeaders Media.