Sutter health’s first social media program helps win approval to build new hospital
Eden Medical Center is a not-for-profit community hospital and an affiliate of Sutter Health, serving South Alameda Count
The Challenge
Sutter Health was funding the construction of a new hospital to replace its aging 55-year-old hospital, Eden Medical Center. Its communication goal was to convince surrounding communities and government agencies to support and approve plans to build the new hospital, one that, although smaller, would vastly improve patient care through its new design, technologies and expanded capabilities.
PR/Social Media Strategy
G2 Communications helped design and launch a social media program to mobilize the communities of southern Alameda County, to build advocacy and to support construction of the new hospital. G2 Communications conducted surveys to gauge community understanding of social media, provided market research, and carried out strategies for increasing online participation to the SMCCV blog and social networks. Through the blog, G2 Communications worked with members of the hospital planning team and trained them to blog about the complexity of hospital construction, from architecture to interior technologies to civil engineering processes, as well as government agency compliance. We also helped establish and maintain social network connections, regularly posting on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, thus generating followers through constant online community group communications and dialogs on the building progress. We recruited physicians and hospital administration to be guest bloggers and to comment on posts. We also successfully publicized the social media project in Bay Area newspapers and trade publications.
Results
The social media program helped win approvals from local and county government agencies for construction of the hospital.
The program led to accolades including a ranking among the Top Ten Hospitals on Twitter, an award from the Society for New Communications Research, recognition from the Hospital Council of California and inclusion as a case study in a book titled “Twitterville,” by Shel Israel..
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