There's a battle going on for the hearts of Middle Tennessee residents. In the latest volley, Vanderbilt University Medical Center is spending $1 million on advertising to brand itself as the hospital "where heart is headed."
The Matagorda General Hospital Foundation hosted an event to kick off a hospital employee fund-raiser designed to get the employees to commit to making at $100 donation to the foundation's general fund.
The forecast for future needs of knee and hip replacement surgery suggests robust demand. This growing market is largely driven by changing consumerism, sociocultural factors and population demographics in the United States. However, while there is optimism about the future need of joint care, there are many concerns about how to meet this growing demand given the current health care and orthopedic landscape.
In 2008, it will be about the economy and politics. Growth is slowing, fuel prices are high and credit is tight. That's a difficult mix for marketers to face as consumers will continue to pull in the reins as disposable income tightens dramatically.
If your resolution is to be fully staffed in the New Year, look to Saint Francis Medical Center's newly-launched recruitment campaign for inspiration. Facing a growing regional healthcare employee shortage, Saint Francis, in Cape Girardeau, MO, needed to fill 26 nursing positions immediately and hoped to hire as many as 100 new nurses each year going forward.
Working with The Roberts Group in Waukesha, WI, Saint Francis developed a multimedia recruitment campaign. An internal employee referral program combined with a mix of print, TV, outdoor, online, and a DVD were used to drive the audience to a new micro site (YourNursingFuture.com) where users can watch streaming video featuring real St. Francis nurses, request more information, apply online, and forward the link to friends. The hospital also plans to add a blog.
The results of the campaign should alleviate doubts about the effectiveness of online campaigns. After the first week, the hospital received more than 250 employee referrals. After four weeks, the number jumped to 750. After three months, Saint Francis filled 16 of 26 nursing vacancies. The average visitor was spending almost four minutes on their site--five times longer than the national average for other Web site users.
Two doctors are planning on opening urgent care clinics in Fort Worth and Arlington, TX. The clinics are targeting patients with minor injuries, infections, and other ailments that often prompt visits to hospital emergency rooms.