By Jackson Murphy

Issues Management Group recently had the pleasure of joining two of our health system partners at the annual New England Society for Healthcare Communications Conference to discuss the importance of local media in earning patient and community trust.

IMG’s Rich Copp moderated a conversation with leaders from Merrimack Health and UMass Memorial Health, who shared why working with community media outlets is foundational to their communications strategies. That sunny afternoon in Burlington, VT led to useful lessons learned and takeaways for comms pros across New England.

Didn’t make it to the conference? That’s ok – here are a few of them:

Patients and employees look to local media for information that affects them:

When Lori Howley joined what is now Merrimack Health, she knew rebuilding community trust would be the top priority. The former Holy Family and Lawrence General Hospitals had just merged following Steward Health Care’s bankruptcy, creating a new regional health system in the Merrimack Valley.

“Patients, families, and businesses are following us closely,” said Howley, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Merrimack Health. “Local media are critical in getting out the information that affects our patients, employees and communities.”

“All politics are local. News media is local too,” added John Looney, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at UMass Memorial Health. As the largest health system and employer in Central Massachusetts, relationships with local media in Worcester are a priority for his team.

“Local outlets are where our caregivers are getting their information,” Looney said of UMass Memorial employees. He also noted that patients look to experts from the community to provide context for health issues that are catching national interest. Offering as much content and material as you can – photos, video, quotes, opportunities to interview clinicians and patients – is helpful to local reporters who are resource constrained.

Access to leaders and proper context helps explain tough issues

Healthcare organizations are navigating financial pressures, federal policies, and other challenges affecting how they deliver care. They must make difficult decisions on complex issues that will impact their communities.  

The panelists agreed that local reporters, often working multiple beats in small newsrooms, want to get the story right when they cover it. That’s why they emphasized that providing as much information as possible helps to ensure balance and context when sharing difficult news.

“If your organization is making decisions for the right reasons, with the right context, whether it is good news or not, you should feel confident talking about it with appropriate transparency,” said Howley.

She added that Merrimack Health will provide local reporters access to executives and leaders to educate them about complex subject matter and their plans to continue supporting the community.

At UMass Memorial, Looney and his team will also send internal announcements to local reporters when appropriate, as a way of reinforcing trust when updates are likely to generate news. This also provides content beyond a media statement that shares the system’s perspective in a story.

Integration of comms with government and community relations is a must

In a dynamic, highly regulated environment, Looney and Howley agreed that strategic communications do not happen in a vacuum and goes beyond traditional public relations and marketing.

Looney approaches communications as a “four-legged stool,” with PR, government relations, corporate comms, and community relations all intertwined with consistent messaging. Coordination across these teams as they carry out their responsibilities is essential for sharing accurate information with all audiences important to healthcare organizations.

“A good reporter will talk to all those people – regulators, physicians, local officials,” added Howley. So it’s important that healthcare organizations foster and maintain relationships with those stakeholders in their communities.

IMG thanks Lori and John for their partnership and insights, the healthcare organizations we are privileged to work with, and all who made the NESHCo conference a success. We look forward to continuing the conversation at future events!