Grow Local L a n i e r H e a l t hwith

Kelsey Brown, Janet Marie Gunnels, Haley Rennick and Amanda Younce

Dr. Lauren Smith

Public Relations Campaigns

April 14, 2011

Table of Contents

Client Analysis ...........................................................................

Situational Analysis ....................................................................

Publics Analysis .........................................................................

Planning .....................................................................................

Implementation .........................................................................

Twitter Tutorial Facebok Tutorial Intern & Staff Planning Website Improvements Grow Local Brochure Media List Grow Local PSA Riverside Remodel Planning Schedule Staff Schedule & Garden Vendors Event Schedule Riverside Remodel News Release Riverside Remodel PSA Flyer Billboard Advertisement Evaluation ................................................................................

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Grow Local L a n i e r H e a l t hwith

Client Analysis

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Lanier Health Services is a 501(c)(3), community hospital located in Valley, Ala. The hospital was dedicated on Nov. 6, 1949, and was the first hospital in the nation to receive a federal grant under the Hill-Burton Program. These hospitals are required to participate in both Medicare and Medicaid federal programs. They also were required to provide reasonable amounts of free care for 20 years after receiving funding.

Internal Environment

Lanier Health Services provides exceptional, quality healthcare for residents of Chambers County and surrounding areas. Lanier Health Services outstanding quality service is determined by its respect for individuals, shared commitment to the hospital’s goals and mission, stewardship and innovation. Lanier Health Services is set apart from its competition by providing exceptional customer service. The hospital’s employees work hard to out serve their competitors rather than out spend them.

Currently there is no known budget for public relations efforts at Lanier Health Services. With the new fiscal year beginning in July, management will be creating a new plan with a new budget.

Lanier Health Services recognizes the importance of public relations activity and supports the possible plan to increase public relations action. Management hopes to improve the image of Lanier Health Services and emphasize the quality of their product to the residents of Chambers County through public relations efforts. One vital aspect of maintaining internal support is allowing managers do their jobs by supervising their own area of the hospital. If a manager is respected enough to lead his/her division, then employees will be more successful in their positions, according to CEO Doug Dewberry. This mutual respect defines the internal environment at Lanier Health Services. New management supports and encourages efforts to continue the growth of this respect in the hospital.

Performance

Recent enhancements to the hospital include a new surgical pavilion, which houses five surgical suites, and a separate surgery discharge area that provides added convenience for surgical outpatients. This addition allows Lanier Health Services to expand its capabilities in surgery and enables physicians to provide procedures that not previously offered.

Lanier Health Services provides its publics with a Breast Health Center, equipped with a digital mammography for screening and diagnostic purposes. The Breast Health Center provides minimally invasive breast services. The hospital also has the Cancer Registry and Resource Center made up of support groups for cancer patients.

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The Cardiac Care Center is complete with comprehensive diagnostic and treatment, noninvasive cardiac technologies, cardiac catheterization, cardiac stints and angioplasty and nuclear cardiology. Lanier Health Services’ Care Coordination offers case management, pastoral care and social services and the emergency room provides 24-hour services and a level-3 trauma center.

Lanier Health Services makes available endoscopies with services such as arthroscopy, colonoscopy, GI endo, ERCP and eye, nose and throat. They also have a family medicine center and a primary care physician clinic. Progressive care telemetry, critical care unit and laboratory are all available through the ICU/CVICU/PACU at Lanier Health Services.

For labor and delivery and postpartum, Lanier Health Services has childbirth surgical suites, childbirth and parent education programs and women’s reproductive health services. Lanier Health Services’ level 2 nursery and neonatal unit is complete with neonatal care and a lactation specialist.

In the neurology center, Lanier Health Services offers pain management, neurophysiology and surgical services. The radiology and diagnostic imaging center provides CT Scans, MRIs, nuclear diagnostics and ultrasounds.

For rehabilitation and therapy, Lanier Health Services has physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, spinal and orthopedic therapy, CVA and neuro rehabilitation, bioness rehabilitation, acute in-patient rehabilitation unit, pediatric rehabilitation and cardiac rehabilitation. The rehabilitation center is complete with assistance in education, nutrition and lifestyle changes for its patients. Lanier Health Services also provides home care, oncology services, orthopedic and joint replacement, respiratory and pulmonary services and surgical services (inpatient and outpatient).

Lanier Health Services is now finalizing plans to renovate the emergency department of the hospital and continues to implement new protocols to further exceed patient satisfaction.

Lanier Health Services is a Tier 1 hospital, and this status is based on financial awareness, quality awareness, patient satisfaction and patient safety awareness. Tier 1 status means Lanier Health Services has a contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield to supply the same services, but a lower premium for Blue Cross and Blue Shield holders. There are specific areas measured such as infection control, core measures, debt, customer satisfaction surveys and more. This year Lanier Health Services scored a 93 out of a possible 100 points.

The main benefit of the Tier 1 status is that patients receive the same service at a lower premium. On average, people with Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s co-pay and deductible will be as much as 50 percent less for the patient compared to other hospitals. This status can help save businesses money on their

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end as well. The hospital must be reevaluated each year in order to keep the status and must provide a good contract to Blue Cross and Blue Shield. In the past five years, the hospital has been Tier 1 approved every year except 2010.

In the last three years, the quality of performance at Lanier Health Services has improved by adding more services for its customers including the addition of infusion therapy for cancer patients, new CT scanners and the new sleep lab. Also through the change in management, Lanier Health Services has improved the performance of its employees by holding better employee meetings and encouraging improved customer service among other things. There have been design improvements to the physical building as well. The lobby and ICU areas were repainted to make the interior more appealing to customers.

After being granted the Joint Commission Accreditation on Jan. 1, 2011, the leaders and management of Lanier Health Services are satisfied with their current ratings. Changes are being made with employees and the quality of the hospital’s performance and service. In order to oversee the areas of patient safety and quality, Lanier Health Services chose “Quality Teams.” The team leaders ensure that the quality of service continues to grow in the future.

Lanier Health Services’ emergency room is one area of the hospital that sets it apart from other hospitals. The emergency room has an average wait time of 21 minutes, which is more efficient than most hospitals in the United States. The average time from a patient walking in the front door to leaving after their treatment is 126 minutes. The average time for the nation is 4 hours, 7 minutes, according to the Press Ganey’s Pulse Report from 2010.

In the next two years, Lanier Health Services hopes to continue improving its quality care by developing greater customer service and adding more services to grow the hospital. Plans to build a new 12-person family practice are being carried out. A new building will be constructed in the next few years and this addition will offer quality services to even more people in the area. Management has researched new emergency room Internet booking so that patients can schedule their visit and guarantee seeing a doctor within 15 minutes of that time.

Structure

Lanier Health Service’s main mission is to provide quality healthcare in a compassionate, healing environment. The vision of Lanier Health Services is to be the first choice healthcare provider for surrounding areas. A strategic business plan is available and management continues to share this plan with employees to reemphasize the vision and goals for the hospital. The plan identifies the

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vision, mission, values, stakeholders, assumptions, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and strategic initiatives for 2010—2014.

Lanier Health Services’ communication resources consist of public relations director, Cindy Brooks. As far as equipment, Lanier Health Service is required to have communication resources such as printers, computers, copiers, scanners, etc. Within the next three years, resources for public relations are predicted to increase. When revising the plans in July 2011, there are hopes that a larger budget will be set aside for public relations to market the quality of services at Lanier Health Services. The public relations staff works hand-in-hand with the CEO and the board of trustees in the organization’s decision-making process.

Internal Impediments

Both CEO Doug Dewberry and Cindy Brooks, the hospital’s public relations director, support an increase in public relations activities. The public relations director position with the hospital was created in October 2010 along with a public relations plan is implemented on a month-to-month basis. They are open to using public relations as a tool for improving their image.

Lanier Health Services has an active website for the use of employees and other publics. Their goal with the new public relations department is to post quality articles on the website each month about a physician or something else concerning the hospital. Managers, doctors and other staff also participate in local charity events and the hospital holds its own fundraising events. There are problems with the creation and implementation of newer social media, though.

There have been talks of making a Facebook page for the hospital, but there are several obstacles to making that happen. Mrs. Brooks says she doesn’t know much about updating and effectively using Facebook. The IT department at Lanier Health Services maintains any form of web presence for the hospital. This could cause miscommunication in some of the PR efforts. Additionally, they’ve tried to start a page but had firewall issues. These issues aren’t being communicated correctly to the public relations department because they don’t have much experience with social media. Administration also isn’t very supportive of a Facebook page if it has to be kept-up. They prefer its purpose to be directing people to the website, rather than using it to interact with the medical community and opinion leaders in the Chambers County area.

The solution for this problem is simple: education. Top administration should be informed of both the benefits and risks of social media and how, if used effectively, they can provide updates and information that will interest a consumer enough to look at the website. The PR staff mentioned they aren’t familiar with any types of social media, but could easily be shown how to do it, what is best to

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say and when updates should be posted. Additionally, many public relations students are interested in jobs in the healthcare industry, and Lanier Health Services could offer a social media internship that includes keeping up with the social media of the hospital. The IT department and the public relations department should work together to get the social media pages going and then hand over the supervision of said pages to the public relations department for effective, timely use of these tools.

Public Perception

Lanier Health Services is well known in the Chattahoochee-Valley area, since it is the closest hospital to many in the community. Their reputation is positive to those who have benefited from their service, but many still choose elsewhere for hospital services. This is apparent in the loss of market share the hospital has experienced over time.

Reputation

An independent company surveys everyone who visits Lanier Health Services, according to Mrs. Brooks. Their results say that people feel positively about the hospital. Lanier Health Services has a quicker patient turnover rate than East Alabama Medical Center and West Georgia Hospital. Because of the timeliness, the services provided are perceived by consumers to be higher in quality. As the first Hill-Burton hospital, the Chattahoochee-Valley community is also proud and thinks highly of Lanier Health Services. Some people living in the area remember giving a day’s pay to the hospital while they helped build the facilities.

The public perception of Lanier Health Services is correct; they don’t necessarily out spend competing hospitals, but they try to out serve. Based on Joint Commission evaluations from June 2009 to July 2010, East Alabama has higher scores in most sections except heart failure care. Since Lanier Health Services is a smaller, rural hospital, these perceptions of patients could be caused by their own bias and not based on their true experiences.

They have submitted news releases to local papers describing things the hospital does for the community or an feature story of the hospital’s doctors. Lanier Health Services also communicates by hosting events such as speaking engagements and health fairs. No direct communication has been made concerning the public’s perceptions about Lanier Health Services. Only indirect communication to convey the quality of Lanier Health Services has been made. If the market share is the most telling research, then Lanier Health Services’s reputation has either worsened or their competition’s has improved. Lanier Health Services’s leaders are unsatisfied with the current reputation. A marketing plan is in place to change the reputation for the better.

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External Environment

The major competition for Lanier Health Services is East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, Ala., and West Georgia Health in LaGrange, Ga. East Alabama Medical Center is a very popular hospital, and its positive reputation could limit the effectiveness of the public relations program at Lanier Health Services. Opposition to the hospital would be the Joint Commission or other performance assessing companies that gives scores to the hospital. Bad scores from these could hinder the goals of the hospital.

Competition

Competition rates are high in the threat area for Lanier Health Services. East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, Ala., is their main competition and West Georgia Health in LaGrange, Ga., is right behind EAMC. In the past, Lanier Health Services has held a bulk of the market share for Chambers County, their main market area, but this dropped to 38 percent in 2010.

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, EAMC performs higher in most areas of the patient-hospital experience. They offer more extensive surgeries and cancer treatments. Their website is more interactive and easier to navigate. Lanier Health Services also recommends people to EAMC when they don’t offer the services needed, so EAMC has a positive reputation based on the people that must travel there for care. The competition is likely to remain steady over the next three years, as each hospital will continue to improve its resources.

Opposition

While they will not do so intentionally, groups that could hinder Lanier Health Services are The Joint Commission and the Hospital Tiered Network.

The Joint Commission is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to continuously improving the safety and quality of care provided to the public. The Joint Commission is the nation’s principal standards setter and evaluator for a variety of health care organizations. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 18,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s oldest and largest standards setting and accrediting body in health care. The Joint Commission conducts an actual on-site survey at least every three years.

Recently The Joint Commission recognized Lanier Health Services for their significant performance on the core measure, Prophylactic Antibiotic Received Within One Hour Prior to Surgical Incision.

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Core measures are evidence-based care processes developed to improve the quality of health care by implementing a national, standardized performance measurement system. The Core Measures were derived largely from a set of quality indicators defined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). They have been shown to reduce the risk of complications, prevent recurrences and otherwise treat the majority of patients who come to a hospital for treatment of a condition or illness. Core Measures help hospitals improve the quality of patient care by focusing on the actual results of care.

The Joint Commission has invited Lanier Health Services to participate in their pilot-testing program of a new online forum called the Core Measure Solution Exchange. The Solution Exchange is designed to facilitate the sharing of success stories regarding how accredited hospitals attained excellent performance on core measures so they can learn from each other. For now, only those hospitals that have dramatically improved and sustained their performance are being asked to contribute to the Solution Exchange. Through the Solution Exchange, hospitals that are struggling to improve their performance will be able to learn from those hospitals on how to attain and maintain higher ratings.

The Hospital Tiered Network rates hospitals trying to fulfill a contract based on fiscal, quality and patient safety. The Preferred Outpatient Facility/Ambulatory Surgery Center (POF/ASC) reimburses outpatient surgery procedures based on an ASC grouping. It has a contractual cost that is standard compared to others plus arrangement for other outpatient services. In this area, Lanier Health Services earned 25 out of 25 points.

In the next area, Concurrent Utilization Review Program (CURP), Lanier Health Services scored a 15 out of 15. The criteria for CURP are used to evaluate and monitor the appropriateness of inpatient hospital care. It includes proper web portal usage and implementation of a Quality Improvement (QI) process with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama. CURP points are also based on Medical Utilization Review (UR) staff with at least three months experience completing an Inter-Rater Reliability (IRR) test.

Next is infection control, which is made up of two parts, Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) and Denton Statewide Infection Reporting Bill Requirements. CUSP was designed to improve safety culture and learn from mistakes by practicing safety during daily work in clinical areas. In order to receive points here, Lanier Health Services agreed to receiving monthly calls as well as participating in team activities and data reporting that will be shared with Blue Cross. The Mike Denton Infection Reporting Act requires every hospital in Alabama to submit data on certain hospital-acquired infections to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Points are received if the hospital signs

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up for the CDC Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) reporting group. The hospital must also submit data as part of a pilot program. Lanier Health Services received 10 out of 10 points in this area.

Five points comes from the Quality Collaboration category. To receive all of the points, which Lanier Health Services did, representatives of the hospital must attend four meetings of the Quality Forum or Alabama Hospital Quality Initiative (AHQI) about collaborating with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama to improve care through hospitals’ adoption of practices that enhance patient safety and quality outcomes.

Quality Outcomes Performance is next with a maximum of 10 points. This measure recognizes hospitals that outperform the national rate and includes recognition for hospitals achieving “excellent” status through the AHQI benchmarking performance. Each hospital starts with 5 of the available points and then points are rewarded or deducted. Lanier Health Services ranked 5 out of 10 in this area, but have not released the reason they weren’t given all 10.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires hospitals to report their process of care measures including Heart Attack Care, Heart Failure Care, Pneumonia Care and Prevention of Surgical Infection. Hospitals receive their score based on the national Top 10 percentile and the National Average. Lanier Health Services scored a 15 out of 15.

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) GAP Analysis survey helps hospitals to identify areas for improvement at their facility. Lanier Health Services agreed to complete the analysis and share the results with Blue Cross and received 5 out of 5 points.

All Alabama general acute care hospitals agreed to not bill for services associated with 26 identified adverse events. These are:

1. Object left in the body after surgery - Unintended retention of a foreign object in a patient after surgery or other procedure 2. Air embolism - Patient death or serious disability directly attributable to an intravascular air embolism that occurs while being cared for in a healthcare facility 3. Blood incompatibility - Patient death or serious disability directly attributable to a hemolytic reaction due to the administration of ABO/HLA-incompatible blood or blood products 4. Hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (decubitus ulcers) - stage three and four 5. Hospital-acquired catheter-associated urinary tract infections 6. Hospital-acquired vascular catheter-associated infection 7. Hospital-acquired mediastinitis after coronary artery bypass surgery

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8. Falls and trauma (hospital-acquired) - fractures, dislocations, intracranial injuries, crushing injuries and burns 9. Surgery performed on the wrong body part 10. Surgery performed on the wrong patient 11. Wrong surgical procedure performed on a patient 12. Surgical-site infections following certain orthopedic procedures: Spine, Neck, Shoulder, Elbow 13. Surgical-site infections following certain bariatric surgery for obesity: Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass, Gastroenterostomy, Laparoscopic Gastric Restrictive Surgery 14. Manifestations of poor glycemic control: Diabetic Ketoacidosis, Nonketotic Hyperosmolar Coma, Hypoglycemic Coma, Secondary Diabetes with Ketoacidosis, Secondary Diabetes with Hyperosmolarity 15. Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism following certain orthopedic procedures 16. Post-operative death in normal healthy patient 17. Implantation of wrong egg or sperm 18. Death/disability associated with use of contaminated drugs, devices or biologics 19. Death/disability associated with use of device other than as intended 20. Death/disability associated with medication error 21. Maternal death/disability with low-risk delivery 22. Death/disability associated with hypoglycemia 23. Death/disability associated with hyperbilirubinemia in neonates 24. Death/disability due to spinal manipulative therapy 25. Death/disability associated with use of restraints within facility 26. Death/disability due to wrong oxygen or gas

To receive points in this area, the hospital must maintain the current name and contact information of the Quality Officer Liaison and supply this to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama. The hospital must also submit their official Policy and Procedure documentation for the operations surrounding an adverse event. Lanier Health Services received all 5 points in this category.

The final category is Patient Experience or Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS). The HCAHPS is a national survey created to publicly report the patient’s perspective of hospital care. The hospital receives points if it performs above average on overall patient rating, above average if patients recommend the hospital and above average for all other questions.

Lanier Health Services received 8 out of 10 points in this category. Lanier Health Services’ final score from the Hospital Tiered Network was a 93 out of 100.

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External Impediments

The environment, economically speaking, is growing in Chambers County. They have experienced a drop in the unemployment rate for 13 months consecutively, and with the arrival of the KIA plant in West Point, Ga., Chambers County is the only county in Alabama to see rapid growth.

This stability and growth indicates a possible change in population for Chambers County, which increases the size of the market available to Lanier Health Services. This could lead to greater stress on the hospital as numbers of patients increase.

Other external impediments are biased patient surveys and lack of family practice physicians. Patient’s who bring their own biased opinions into the hospital will report worse scores than patients who have no bias before entering the hospital. Also, the high competition for family practice physicians between hospitals means could impede the growth of the family practice portion of Lanier Health Services. This would further strain the resources of Lanier Health Services.

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Situational Analysis

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Currently, Lanier Health Services needs to emphasize its public relations efforts in order to regain their market share. Lanier Health Services has continued to improve and grow, especially in regard to the Joint Commission Accreditation and Tier 1 status.

Lanier Health Services’ management and employees have worked hard to reach this point. With the change in management about a year ago, employees have participated in more employee meetings. Doctors, nurses, janitors and everyone involved in the hospital see the clear vision for where Lanier Health Services is headed and small steps showing how to get there. Employees are continually trained in customer service techniques to improve customer satisfaction and broaden the quality services offered at the hospital.

The hospital has many opportunities as a local, rural hospital. If Lanier Health Services can publicize their close connection to the community, then the hospital has the ability to win back the market share back.

Lanier Health Services is also attempting to promote their new Tier 1 status to their publics. Within the past five years, the hospital was Tier 1, excepting only 2010, when they were Tier 2. Because of its focus on only Blue Cross Blue Shield customers, it needs a separate campaign. This is not the focal point of an image campaign because it is not solely based on quality and depends largely on the contract given to Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Background on the Issue

This is the first time this organization has addressed the issue of image, to our understanding. Lanier Health Services recently hired a new CEO and public relations director. This PR problem has been present for many years, but this is the first time the hospitals has really focused on the issue. The issue being that Lanier Health Services is not being promoted to the best of its abilities. The community does not recognize the importance of supporting their local hospital, which helps the community’s economy. Obstacles the hospital faces are its competitors. East Alabama Medical Center is another quality hospital in the area. Many people assume EAMC is a better hospital so instead of going to Lanier they go to EAMC. Important facts that should be known are that Lanier Health Services cares about the local community, keeps high standards of efficiency and provides a valuable asset to the area.

Consequences of the Situation

Image controls the bottom line of the organization. If Lanier Health Services doesn’t improve their image to the Chambers county area, they potentially will not be able to afford to serve the community.

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The hospital identifies this as a priority in their mission and vision statements. The mission statement, “Providing exceptional, quality healthcare in a compassionate, healing environment,” and the vision statement, “First Choice Healthcare Provider,” imply a quality image. Each of these apart from a respected image would be hypocritical. Therefore, this situation is central to their goals.

The response to this situation should not be taken lightly and needs to be well planned. The community and area served by Lanier Health Services is growing and the opportunity is readily available to improve their image. Competition should not be underestimated though. The duration of the situation will be long term, because high quality images are difficult to build, especially when they involve something related to personal health and well-being.

Having a poor image affects the influence and success of the hospital, therefore affecting the economy of the entire community because of the large number of people the hospital employs. The most affected audience is possibly the consumer, though. They spend more on traveling when they could be treated just as well close to home, near their families. The hospital’s image affects its employees, too. They have less job security at a hospital that is earning less money because of its poor image.

According to Lanier’s CEO, many rural hospitals started by the Hill-Burton Program could not maintain support and were closed. While there is no threat of Lanier Health Services closing anytime soon, their image must be maintained in order to stay in competition with surrounding hospitals. The trend of hospitals that prioritize their image is to utilize public relations to their benefit.

The situation is currently an opportunity and an obstacle for Lanier Health Services. There is opportunity because of the growth their market area is experiencing, and there is the obstacle of a lesser image than surrounding hospitals. This growth is a perfect opportunity to change the image for the new, unbiased consumers moving into the community and for consumers who don’t realize the way their choices can effect the local economy.

Resolution of Situation

If information contradicting Lanier Health Services’ claims of quality service came out, it could affect the hospitals ability to effectively promote their image. Through continuing to improve the quality of the hospital’s care, updating the interior of the hospital and focusing on the growth of the primary care unit, Lanier Health Services has already begun the journey to a better image. In order to utilize PR to contribute to these efforts, it should be used to promote a message of caring and connection to the community. Their image will be improved by making an association of local and caring to the words “Lanier Health Services.”

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SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Lanier Health Services created a public relations director to tackle their communication efforts. The CEO and other management have the desire to change the hospital for the better. The economy of the Chambers County area has increased recently because of the arrival of a KIA plant in West Point, Ga., which is approximately 20 miles away from Lanier Health Services. The Board of Trustees, technology: medical and information, size and convenience of the hospital are also listed as strengths by the hospital. They also feel their employees, history and traditions add to the strengths. They also have ample equipment, etc., for PR efforts.

Weaknesses

The hospital sees their weaknesses as the age of their medical staff, inability to attract key physician specialties/recruiting, large amount of revenue with new physicians and variation of care at different times such as call coverage, which is the on-call scheduling process for physicians. Additionally, there is no known budget for public relations efforts at this time. Also, the public relations director has only held that position since it was created in October, and her experience prior to that also was not in public relations. Many employees are unaware of the services provided and what the hospital is trying to accomplish. The website is outdated and not user friendly. Also, the IT department of Lanier Health Services controls any Internet activity including social media.

Opportunities

Lanier Health Services list their opportunities as growing their primary care base, promoting the orthopedic and rehabilitation services, offering more surgeries by a recruiting a general surgeon, using their rural health services to attract community members, popularity from promoting their Tier 1 status, more consumers because of the growing economy that stems from the KIA plant in West Point, Ga. Because the public relations department of Lanier Health Services is so new, we feel they have many opportunities to tell the community about their quality and Tier 1 status. Social media sites can be built in a creative way rather than needing to be transformed. The small, hometown feel of a local, rural hospital can be used as an opportunity as well.

Threats

The Joint Commission rates hospitals regularly to ensure that the meet certain standards. If a hospital passes, they are accredited. If they are not, the hospital may not be allowed to run in

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certain areas. The Hospital Tiered Network doesn’t grade based solely on quality, but they do have standards that comply with a contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, as well as other quality standards. If the contract is not followed, Lanier Health Services will lose their status. Other hospitals in the area are also a threat to Lanier Health Services because the services that they provide will constantly be compared. In the case of East Alabama Medical Center and West Georgia Health, they are more popular so people are more likely to visit them.

Our strategy for this campaign focuses on decreasing threats, overcoming weaknesses through utilizing opportunities. Our campaign will attack this situation from an unusual and unexpected angle, making Lanier Health Services stand out among competition as the first choice healthcare provider for Chambers County.

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Publics Analysis

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The target public is Chambers County residents who choose to go outside Chambers County for healthcare services and residents who currently use Lanier Health Services. The image they have of the hospital is lesser than that of competing hospitals. This is shown in the falling market share of Lanier Health Services for their service area. The attitude of the public might be that it’s easier to go to another hospital than to Lanier Health Services, and that, as a rural hospital, they do not have the same quality as others.

One attitude of this public could be that they don’t care to know what Lanier Health Services provides. This public doesn’t know the facts about the hospital. This public chooses other healthcare providers and drives however far for it. Other behaviors include using the same non-local hospital for follow-up trips. Their behavior is driven by ignorance and bias, not information.

Another public of Lanier Health Services is any potential employee. The hospital’s main goal this year is to better promote their hospital, but their 5-year goal is to have more doctors working for their family care practice. Many hospitals offer programs for medical students where they pay for schooling if the student promises to work for the hospital for a specified amount of time after graduating. East Alabama Medical Center and West Georgia Health both offer deals like this, which could be why doctors know those hospitals better. A publicized debt-payment program could be of great benefit to Lanier Health Services.

Lanier Health Services mostly uses old media to promote the hospital and communicate with their publics. They produce news releases, feature stories, educational events and philanthropic efforts. They use their website as well, updating it with the news releases and other written publications. While the traditional media work, there are other communication strategies that would round out their public relations promotions.

Lanier Health Services hosts events to raise awareness within the community on medical issues, but the publics aren’t involved in the issue of promoting image. Lanier Health Services’ publics also know what the hospital is there to accomplish, but may not be aware of all the services offered.

There is not significant data available to know if current and past public relations efforts have been effective. In recent months Lanier Health Services transferred an employee to be the Public Relations Director. The public relations staff has created a new recruitment video to bring in doctors. They have also continued PR efforts including education programs, news releases and other traditional media. These efforts did not include research specific to the efforts, either before or after.

The public may not believe in the actually quality of Lanier Health Services and this might be why

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many migrate to East Alabama Medical Center. Once the public builds a relationship of trust with Lanier Health Services this situation could be remedied. People will realize the better hospital to choose is in their backyard.

There are several ways Lanier Health Services could inform its publics. A foundation of PR theory says that one-to-one communication is best for all publics. Because Lanier Health Services is a rural hospital, the public relations team needs creative ways to reach its audience. The first step to reaching the public is creating a Facebook page for the hospital to make the product visible to the community and its opinion leaders. Social networking tools are some of the best ways for a public relations staff to stay up-to-date with the opinion leaders, journalists, media and potential employees. Lanier Health Services could also create a Twitter to publicize any events happening at the hospital.

The hospital’s publics prefer messages that make them feel confident in the services and quality offered. The audience wants to know that Lanier Health Services cares about the community. If the hospital can convince their publics that they are a vital, giving part of the community, they will improve their reputation and increase their market share.

Lanier Health Services’ public prefers messages balanced on logic and emotion. The public wants to trust the hospital and its services, which is built on facts, experience and association. For instance, a message centered on logic would be that Lanier Health Services is a valuable contributor to the economy, so why would residents want to leave the county for healthcare services. Likewise, if stories were written about community members who had a positive experience at Lanier Health Services, the public would prefer this message based on emotion.

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Planning

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Strategy

Our strategy for this campaign focuses on decreasing threats, overcoming weaknesses through utilizing opportunities. Our campaign will attack this situation from an unusual and unexpected angle, making Lanier Health Services stand out among competition as the first choice healthcare provider for Chambers County.

The specific strategy we chose is based on the SWOT analysis conducted by Lanier Health Services and our own observations. First, we identified the internal and external factors that may hinder the hospital from achieving the goals and objectives of the campaign. Then we evaluated the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the hospital. Our defensive strategy is best for Lanier Health Services because the hospital does not a strong, well-known reputation. The hospital’s lack of reputation gives the staff plenty of opportunities to build a strong name for their business. We still strongly believe that our objective for the campaign is attainable after recognizing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Client Goals

Lanier Health Service’s goal is to be the number one healthcare provider for the area surrounding the hospital. A secondary goal of the hospital is to increase their market share. The staff hopes improve their market share by getting more people in the area to choose Lanier Health Services instead of East Alabama Medical Clinic or West Georgia Health.

Another main goal of the hospital is to improve their image by emphasizing the quality and timeliness of their services. A secondary goal underneath improving the hospital’s image is promoting the Tier 1 status to local businesses. By publicizing the Tier 1 status, Lanier Health Services can help grow the Lanier community as well as the hospital’s profits.

The last goal of the hospital is to grow their family practice. This goal can be accomplished by constructing a new family practice building. Recruiting new physicians is also a secondary goal that accompanies growing the family practice. If Lanier Health Services can recruit new physicians, then they can have room for new patients to bring in more revenue.

Key Publics

Stakeholders, patients, employees, physicians, employers, government officials and volunteers are a key public for Lanier Health Services. For our campaign, we especially want to focus on opinion leaders in the community. We believe that if we can reach opinion leaders then we can truly reach

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the rest of the community and transform the image and reputation of Lanier Health Services. Opinion leaders such as teachers, civic group members, small business owners and local government leaders are an important group for the hospital to connect with. This tactic of reaching opinion leaders also supports the campaign theme of “Grow Local with Lanier.” Another public would be those who go outside Chambers county for service. As mentioned in our publics analysis, this public is vital for increasing the market share of the hospital.

Key Message

The main idea in campaign to illustrate how Lanier Health Services is a vital part of the Lanier community. The hospital facilitates economic growth in the community. If the people in the surrounding area better support the hospital, it can prosper even more. Our message will also focus on how the quality services offered at Lanier Health Services should be better utilized by the community. The campaign will also emphasize the philanthropic efforts of the hospital, which both our publics enjoy.

We believe that Lanier Health Services is currently in an opportunistic position. This hospital is unique to the area because it is a rural health clinic. Lanier is considered a rural and growing area, and Lanier Health Services has helped the community for many years. In this campaign, the public relations specialist can accentuate the characteristics that make the hospital extraordinary. One distinctive quality of Lanier Health Services is that the community built this hospital. Also, it is important to remind the community members that Lanier Health Services has remained profitable over time. Lanier Health Services is a hospital based on strong traditions, which continue to help the community progress.

Campaign Goals

The central goal of our campaign is to improve the image of Lanier Health Services. Our slogan “Grow Local with Lanier Health” will emphasize the hospital helping grow the community’s economy and health education. Along with improving the image of Lanier Health Services, the campaign will focus on encouraging community members to support local businesses. By building a relationship of mutual support, the hospital will gain trust with the public and build mutually beneficial relationships with them. The campaign will enable Lanier Health Services to promote different aspects of the hospital, such as their available services, quality, exceptional employees and standings like Joint Commission Accreditation and Tier 1 status.

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Campaign Objectives & Tactics

Starting in July 2011 and ending December 2011, “Grow Local with Lanier Health” campaign will significantly raise awareness of what services this hospital offers to the Chattahoochee Valley community. Another objective of the hospital will host a community event with more than 50 people in attendance. Also by December 2011, representatives of Lanier Health Services will increase the community involvement of the hospital.

The tactics of this campaign include a “Grow Local with Lanier Health” event, PSA, billboard advertisements, a brochure for their image, as well as tutorials for Facebook and Twitter. Other tactics will include plans for interns and possible increase of public relations staff.

Creating and effectively using a Facebook page is necessary to help Lanier Health Services grow. Therefore, we are giving the hospital a step-by-step tutorial that will not only give them the tools to start one, but also to continue the work. A twitter account is necessary for the same reason and more. Patients can follow the hospital’s twitter, and the hospital can follow other hospitals and medical centers.

We have created a sample brochure for the hospital to use to promote their image. It will detail what the hospital believes in and how they act out those beliefs in the community. It will foster a feeling of trust in the hospital. Additionally, it will appeal to those looking for a more modern, graphic brochure. Many of the brochures currently given out by the hospital and focused on information more than design and imagery. This brochure will bridge that gap.

We also feel that the website could offer more information. Our implementation includes improvements and design tips for changes to be made on the web presence of the hospital.

The main tactic of our campaign is an event called Riverside Remodel. This event involves the community in a family-friendly event to replant the riverside terrace at Lanier Health Services for the fall. There will be extensive planning for this event. Local garden vendors will set up tents with their plants and products. Administration will invite guests to help plant the garden. Appetizers and drinks will be served. This event will encourage the community to see a different side of the hospital while emphasizing a unique aspect of the hospital.

Finally, we feel that more public relations staff members are necessary. Mrs. Brooks would benefit greatly from an assistant who can help her with public relations as well as recruiting. The hospital could also have interns to help out with daily public relations issues such as managing social media accounts and writing news releases.

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Strengths and Weaknesses of the Campaign

Weaknesses of this campaign are the unknowns. While we can plan for things in the budget, there is no way for us to know what the hospital’s board will approve as part of the budget for the new fiscal year, and how much it will be. Another obstacle is the sheer size of the target market. The research available on this market was also dated.

Strengths of the campaign are its encouragement of technology and social media. Both technology and social media are the most innovative tools in today’s public relations arena. This is the most modern tactic to involve the community and build a relationship with them negating the need for a large budget. Another strength is the focus on qualities of the hospital that are intangible, such as their beliefs, trustworthiness and commitment to the local community. These are difficult to portray, but essential to building trust with the target audience.

Grow Local L a n i e r H e a l t hwith

Implementation

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Facebook TutorialCreating a Facebook Business Page

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Getting Started

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Go to the Facebook website at www.facebook.com.At the bottom, right side of the page click: Create a page for a celebrity, band or business.This link will take you directly to a page where you have 6 options to choose from. Click the local business or place option.This will open to a form. Fill out the form with the correct information. For the first step, you will choose the category health/medical/pharmacy. Then you will fill out the rest of the desired information.Check the “I agree to Facebook Pages Terms” box.Press Get Started.A security box will pop up; fill in the correct letters.This will lead you to the next page where you have two options. a. Option one is if you already have an existing Facebook page. b. Option two is if you do. Click that box and fill in the following information. If you are creating a Facebook page for the first time, be prepared to use an email address where you do not mind receiving notifications from the Facebook team.Once you have signed in or created your personal page you will now have access to the business page.

The first thing you will want to do is upload a profile image. Facebook makes this very simple. Click on the upload an image box, click browse and find your desired photo in your computer’s files. Once you have chosen your photo click upload. Once this process is done your business’s profile picture will be up and ready to be seen. Make sure to choose a picture that accurately represents what the page is about. A picture of the hospital or the hospital logo would work best. The next thing you will want to do is to invite your Facebook friends to “like” the page. This is the designated “Step Two” on the page. Click the “Suggest to friends” and a browser box that contains all your friends will pop up. You can click send to “All” or you can check the friends you want to invite to “Like” the page. Our suggestion would click the “Invite All” button. The more people that “Like” the page, the more people become aware of what Lanier Health Services is.This step allows you to tell your fans about the page. Press the “Import Contacts” button. This allows you to upload your contacts so they can be notified about the page.

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Your Facebook Business Page is ready to be used. Now, you can post status updates, which can be about anything but need to be relevant and encourage interaction. If there are special events or important information that needs to be given out in a quick and timely manner, this is a great way of doing that. The information you post will show up on all your friends and “follower” mini-feeds.

To navigate through the steps you have already done you can use the upper land hand task bar. To use the your Facebook to its fullest capabilities there are a few things you should know how to do such as send messages, chat and communicate with others via wall messages.

Messages

Messages are a great tool to send out mass information to your audience (Facebook Friends). Messages are a lot like email. You can send them to a single person or to multiple people, which creates a thread. A thread allows the message to show up in all inboxes every time someone responds. To create a message you click the message button and start composing.

Chat

Facebook Chat is useful when your friends are online and you would like to start a private conversation. Chat is instant messaging one another. On the bottom right side of the page you will see an icon that says “Chat.” Click that and a box will open up. All your friends who are online and are accepting chat requests will have a green dot next them and the ones who are online but have chat turned off will have a white dot next to their name. To start a chat, click the name of the person you would like to talk to and start typing. To send the message, press enter.

Wall Post

There is a small text box under every person’s page that says “Write Something.” Click in this box and begin writing whatever you desire. You can also copy and paste links into this box and it will show up on their page. To post the wall post, press enter. “Wall Posts” are another useful tool for providing information to your followers.

You can also tag different people in a wall post or status update. This is useful when you want to send the same message to more than one person. To tag a person or organization to a wall post or status update, type an @ sign and then begin typing their name. A drop down menu should appear as your typing. The names that have similar letters will appear in this menu. Click on the person’s name you want to tag. When you send the wall post or status update it will appear on the entire party that is included.

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Photos

Uploading a photo album is a lot like uploading a profile picture. Click on the photo button at the left side of the page. At the top, a link will appear that says “Upload Photos.” Click this link. A box will appear and at the bottom of the box click the button “select photos.” This will open a browser box where you can browse all photos that are stored in your hard drive. Use your control button while click on the desired photos. This will allow you to upload multiple photos at a time. Once you have chosen all your photos click open. Your photos will start to upload to Facebook. When your photos have completely uploaded an information box will appear. You will need to name the album and give the desired information.

How to Measure Interaction

Now that you know how to create a Facebook and use it to its abilities you need to know how to track the traffic flow. There is a link on the right-hand side of the page that says “view insights.” Click this link and it will take you to a page of graphs. These graphs track how many views, ‘likes,’ wall post, feedback etc. the page has received. This is a useful tool especially for public relations. It is always a good idea to measure the exposure and to receive feedback about a service or product.

Ways to Involve Public/Patients

Facebook would be a great way to keep an eye on a patient without making them come to the hospital. When a patient has a medical question they could write a wall post or send a message. A doctor, nurse or other medical specialist could then respond to the patient in a timely and efficient manner. If it is too serious to explain through the web, then they can explain that the patient needs to come in to the hospital. Facebook is a vital communication tool that can go a long way if it is used correctly. The hospital could also give daily updates/facts about the hospital or the human body. People are always willing to learn more about their bodies and things that will benefit their health.

Creating an Event

To create an event for Lanier Health Services you will need to convert Lanier’s Facebook page as the main page. This is a very easy task. On the right-hand side of the page there is a link that says “Use Facebook as Health Services,” click this link. This means your home Facebook is now Lanier Health Services. To go back to your personal page click “Use Facebook as me.” You can now create an event and manage the page easier. To create events go to the home-page. On the upper right-hand side of the page, all the events you are attending/have been invited to will be listed. Click view all events. This

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Twitter TutorialSetting Up a Twitter Account

Direct your browser to http://twitter.com/signup and type the name you want others to see in the Full Name text box. It will have to be 20 characters or less, so “LanierHealthServices” with no spaces will be the longest option. Your username will have to be even shorter, 15 characters, but you want to make sure it means something. “LanierHealth” would work, or “LanierHospital”. The name can be any combination of letters, numbers and underscores, but all other characters are illegal. You also can’t include the word Twitter anywhere in your name or username.

Next, you need a password. It should be something you will remember, but also something that is considered “Very Strong” so other people outside the organization can’t guess it. To have your password rated “Very Strong,” it should be at least 8 characters long and include one number and one alphanumeric symbol, which include the @, # or & signs.

Finally, you need to type the active email address where you want Twitter to send notifications and other messages. Later on you will have the option to choose which, if any, notifications you want sent. The email address you use should be one that can be accessed by anyone who updates/uses the Twitter account. There’s also a box underneath asking if you want the “inside scoop.” If checked, Twitter will send you a regular newsletter which contains valuable tips about Tweeting, who to follow and ways to make your Twitter more popular. If you don’t want this, don’t check the box. Now all you have to do to create your account is to type in the Captcha words and click on Create my Account.

Getting Started With Twitter

Signing on

To sign-on to your Twitter account, direct your browser to http://twitter.com/login. Type your username in the Username Box and your password in the Password Box. If you use the same private computer to login to Twitter, select the “Remember Me” box, so you will be automatically logged in

will take you to the main events page. At the top of the page click the “Create an Event” link. The rest is easy. You will need to fill out all the wanted information and then click create an event. Your event is now up and running for all Facebook users to see. Once it’s ready, you can invite everyone relevant to the event.

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every time you go to Twitter. Click “sign in” and you will be directed to your home page.

Setting Profile Details

Twitter sign-up is quick, but you want to make sure to add details to your profile so people will know more about you. Once you sign-in, click “Profile” at the top, which will direct you to your account settings. The “Account” tab allows you to change your username and email as well as set your time zone and language. You can also decide whether you want to display your tweet location, if you want to see tweet media, whether you want your tweets private/protected and if you need to tweet via a secure connection. We recommend not protecting your tweets.

Next is the “Password” tab, which allows you to change your password at anytime. After that is the “Mobile” tab. If you have one person in charge of tweeting, they can change the settings so tweets, direct messages and mentions/replies (to be explained later) can be sent to that cell phone number. This is convenient if the tweeter is not always near a computer but needs to update Twitter regularly.

On the “Notifications” tab you can choose what information you want Twitter to email you. While it’s not necessary to receive emails when someone follows you, it is advisable to allow Twitter to let you know when someone has sent you a Direct Message (to be explained later). That way you can reply to them in a timely manner.

The “Profile” tab is extremely important. This is what other people see when they search for Lanier Health Services. You want the picture to accurately represent the Twitter account. The bio cannot be more than 160 characters but should still provide enough information for others to know about Lanier Health Services. It is also a good idea to add the hospital’s website to the Twitter account so people have a way to learn more.

Choosing the design for your Twitter is also important because it gives your page personality. Twitter has generic options for you to choose from, but you can also upload an image that would be more personal to Lanier Health Services be it a logo, a photo of the hospital or something from the surrounding areas. You can then choose to use the full image or to tile it.

The final tab is “Connections.” This is where you can connect your Twitter account to different applications to allow for easier Tweeting. We recommend connecting your Facebook fan page and Twitter accounts, which would allow you to check/update one and the other would automatically update as well. We also recommend using an application like TweetDeck (to be explained later) to organize and update all of your social media pages.

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The Rest of the Tabs

The rest of the tabs at the top of your Twitter page are “Messages” and “Who to Follow.” “Messages” allow you to send Direct Messages. “Who to Follow” allows you to browse through people already on Twitter. You can locate profiles based on your interests, find friends through email applications or get suggestions from Twitter based on your profile and the kinds of people you are already following. Another way to find and follow people is to type the first and last name of the person or the company name into the “ Search” box. We recommend following local and national hospitals as well as transplant centers, specialty clinics and urgent care centers.

The Art of Tweeting

Sending an Update

There are people that have Twitter accounts to only see what others are saying rather than update their own accounts. This is not what Twitter was meant for, and Lanier Health Services would be devaluing this public relations tool if their Twitter weren’t updated regularly. There are many different types of tweets, and all you have to do is type in the large “What’s Happening?” box at the top of your home page. The most important thing about tweeting is making sure you get all the important information out in 140 characters or less. Twitter will let you know when you are getting close: less than 20 characters left the color changes to Maroon, less than 10 turns the font Red and when you go below 0 a negative symbol (-) is added in front of the number and Twitter will disable the “Tweet” button. Once you tweet, every person who’s following you will see what you’ve said in his or her Twitter feed.

Types of Updates

Status Updates—Simply telling the Twitter world what you are doing. This used to be the majority of tweets but now they usually answer the question “What’s happening now?” Lanier Health Services could tweet about surgeries that are happening at that moment and the procedures that surgeons are using.

Link to an interesting side—Providing a short and sweet description of something interesting or useful followed by the website’s address. These types of updates are a great way to teach your followers new things. Hopefully the medical centers you follow will follow back, and you can share websites with them that pertain to your field.

Conversations—Back-and-forth exchanges between two or more people about a topic.

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Broadcasts—When tweets follow a specific type of content sent on a regular schedule. Lanier Health Services could use this type to send out Medical Tips of the Day or something similar.

News—Letting followers know about something good, bad, interesting, etc. that has happened be it personal or news stories sent by professional media organizations.

Live-Tweeting—When you send on-the-fly updates that summarize an event that is currently happening.

Tips for Staying Within the 140 Character Limit

Take advantage of symbols already built into the language such as & for “and,” $ for “dollars” or % for “percent.”

Use common abbreviations. Email and instant messaging have created a new language of commonly used abbreviations and acronyms such as BTW (by the way), FYI (for your information), etc.

Sometimes, shortening a tweet could be as simples as using shorter, simpler words.

Avoid redundancies and wordiness and be precise in your writing. Once you’re used to it, staying within the limit will be easy. When you’re first starting out though, your editing skills will come in handy. Tweets should get right to the point and you’ll have to edit your thoughts to get that point across effectively.

When you’re posting URLs, use a URL shortening service so they won’t take up so many of your 140 characters. We recommend bit.ly because once you shorten your URL you can use the site to track how many people click on your link. If you use a tweeting service such as TweetDeck, your links may be automatically shortened.

Twitter Etiquette

Just like verbal interaction in business, it is important to follow certain guidelines with Twitter. These guidelines aren’t written, but have developed over the course of its existence.

Don’t spam your followers. No one wants to read sales pitches in their timeline so any updates that are publicizing products or services will probably get overlooked. If you do this too much, Twitter will even suspend your account until you email promising to stop. There are ways to inform your

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followers about your services without it being spam. Just make sure your posts are relevant.

Don’t over tweet about Lanier Health Services’ other online media. Yes, it is good to let people know when something on your website is new, but if that’s all you do people will stop following you. You want to have original content created just for Twitter.

Give credit where credit is due. If someone you follow leads you to something interesting that you’d like to share with your followers, add their username somewhere in the tweet such as “thanks @username.”

Don’t post private information such as phone numbers, addresses unless it’s something that’s public information anyway. Otherwise everyone in the world will be able to see it.

Don’t over-share. You want each of your tweets to be read, and that won’t happen if you’re sending every single thought you have. Depending on what your day is like, you could send anywhere from 3 to 25 tweets. The important thing is to make sure each tweet is necessary. If you were live-tweeting about an event at the hospital, you would have more tweets. Days where not much is going on, though, five is a good average when beginning.

Don’t be rude. Treat your fellow tweeters with respect.

Hashtags

There is a way to track relevant tweets on the Twitter search engine if you’re looking to find out what people are saying about a certain subject. It takes awhile though, so Twitter offers a simpler way: hashtags. This is a keyword about your topic, event or organization preceded by the hash symbol (#) so tweeters can include the hashtag in all their tweets on the subject. If you want to use hashtags in your posts, follow @hashtags by going to http://twitter.com/hashtags and click the “Follow” button. The user will automatically follow you back and index your hashtags for you to look at in the future. You can search for hashtag topics by typing #topic in the “Search” box at the top.

Replies, Retweets and Direct Messages

Twitter is not just a one-way medium where you send off a tweet and it’s all over. Your followers have the ability to reply to your tweets, and you have that same ability. To view replies sent to you, click @Replies on the bar at the top of your Twitter timeline. You can reply to others’ tweets by running the mouse over their tweet then clicking the “Reply” button. Your reply will appear on your timeline and the timeline of the original tweeter. Send a reply whenever you want to comment or follow up on a

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tweet or if you have new/updated information on the tweet.

Retweeting was not an original function of Twitter, but something that was added because people started re-posting tweets they liked. A “retweet” is another person’s tweet that you copy and send to your followers that acknowledges the original tweeter. You can click “retweet” the same way you would click “reply,” or you can follow some simple steps that allow you not only to retweet, but to also add your own comments to it.

1. Copy the tweet text that you want to retweet, including the username 2. Click inside the “What’s Happening” box on your home page and type RT (or PRT if you only want to retweet part of the original tweet)3. Type a space, then @ and then post the text you copied4. Type in your own text either at the beginning or after what you copied, then click “Tweet” Direct Messages can be viewed by clicking on the “Messages” tab at the top of the home page. You can DM (Direct Message) anyone who follows your tweets. Direct Messages are private and can only be viewed by you and to whom you sent them.

Last, But Not Least

It is important to build up your Twitter profile and your tweets before you start following people or promoting your page to be followed. You want to make sure that Lanier Health Services image is established so people will know what you’re all about. Try tweeting 3 or 4 times a day for a week or two then get to networking.

Adding Twitter To Your Website

While Twitter can be used to direct followers to Lanier Health Services’ website, the website can also be used to inform consumers that the hospital has a Twitter. The simplest way is to add a link to your twitter home page, but an even better way is to create a Twitter badge link. A Twitter badge is a small graphic with a bird or some variation of the Twitter logo that links your website and your Twitter. It involves HTML coding, but is very simple if that is an option that Lanier Health Services would like to have.

You can also add a “Tweet This” link. That way, when someone finds information on your website they like and want to share with their followers, they can click the “Tweet This” link on that page and automatically connect with their Twitter. It also involves HTML coding and http://twitthis.com/ is a service that offers custom “Tweet This” links.

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Connecting Twitter With Facebook

Facebook is a very different social medium than Twitter because it offers many more options such as posting photos and videos that people can comment on, the ability to write on friends’ “walls,” and using as many applications as you’d like. Most people on Facebook don’t use all these tools though, they only update their statuses every once in awhile. Now there is an option to connect your Twitter and Facebook accounts so you don’t have to update a status in two places.

Direct your browser to http://twitter.com/badges. Click on the Facebook logo and then click “continue.” If you’re not already logged in to your Facebook, you will be prompted to do so. If you are, the “Allow Access” page will appear and you click “Allow.” You will be directed to the Twitter on Facebook page.

Using Twitter Clients

A Twitter client allows you to use various social media, but specifically Twitter, with a desktop client so you can do so while working on other things. TweetDeck is the most popular, so that is the one we will discuss.

Go to www.tweetdeck.com and choose the medium on which you’d like to download the program. It will prompt you to sign in with your username and password for Twitter and any other social media accounts you want to have linked to TweetDeck.

You can have one column that only shows your Twitter feed, or you can add columns that organize all of your @replies, @mentions and Direct Messages. If you don’t use a column, removing it is as simple as clicking the X in the upper-right corner of that column. At the bottom of each column, you can filter what is being posted, clear everything you’ve seen or view what is popular.

TweetDeck allows you to know only update statuses and view others’ tweets in an organized way, but also to upload photos and videos with your Twitter updates. TweetDeck also had the deck.ly service that shortens URLs to take up fewer characters so you’re staying within the 140 character limit. Another great option that TweetDeck offers is the ability to schedule a tweet to be sent out into the world at a later date and time. If you know you’re going to want something said but you won’t be in a location where you can Tweet, go ahead and write it, then click the clock icon next to the “Send” button.

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Intern & Staff PlanningAs part of the implementation of this PR campaign, we recommended that Lanier Hospital hire an assistant for the full-time public relations personnel. Currently, the public relations staff also focuses on the human resource function of recruitment for new doctors. While that role remains important to the hospital, we believe there should be another full-time employee to assist with public relations efforts in the community. A full-time public relations personnel can help broadcast what your organization offers and build a favorable public image, as an image campaign is a long and difficult process.

In the past, public relations professionals simply worked with the media to deliver press releases, pitch stories and manage an organization’s exposure to the media. As their job has evolved, it has become a team effort, especially for larger organizations with many employees. A public relations professional works with the targeted publics and also oversees internal communication. These are large undertakings and we feel they would be better excecuted with some extra help.

Another step of the “Grow Local with Lanier” campaign is to hire two (unpaid) interns from Auburn University or a nearby university. To begin, the public relations personnel could focus on hiring just one intern and make sure the staff is able to manage the internship and other PR efforts. Hiring an intern takes a lot of work, but an intern is a perfect way to receive free work from a college student with fresh ideas. As long as the public relations personnel takes time to plan ahead and assign the specific tasks for the intern, the only administrative efforts will be approving and editing the work that the intern completes.

At Auburn University, public relations students are required to complete an internship before graduation, therefore many students are eagerly searching for potential employers during their senior year. Even though Lanier Health Services is a substantial drive from Auburn, these interns would be able to work around the schedule needed by the hospital.

Some courses to make sure the intern has completed are as follows:

1. Style and Design2. Photojournalism3. Case Studies 4. Feature Writing5. Writing for PR

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Make sure to ask all applying interns for examples of their work. This will ensure that the type of work the student will produce matches work the hospital might like to see from their intern.

Listed below are some examples of tasks for the intern:

1. Finding story ideas from employees2. Writing feature stories on hospital patients 3. Taking stock photographs of normal hospital procedures, etc. 4. Taking special event photographs5. Managing and updating social media accounts6. Benchmarking other hospitals for ideas, inspiration, etc.7. Update brochure designs or other publications8. Create a template for the newsletter9. Update media list 10. Help with event planning and tasks

These are just a few tasks the intern could complete throughout the semester. This list is not exhaustive and can be added to as necessary, depending on the skills and talents of the intern.

Some questions for interviewing the intern:

1. Why are you interested in the public relations major?2. How do you feel you can be an asset to this hospital?3. What has been the most beneficial class in your major so far?4. What are your goals for this internship?5. Why did you decide to apply for this internship?

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Website ImprovementsBasing our critique on design principles used by professional website developers and designers, we have compiled a short list of possible improvements for the Lanier Health Services’ website. According to Canadian researchers, we evaluate websites in the first 50 milliseconds we see it. That means visual appeal and readability is vital to effective web design.

Don’t Make Users Think

Websites should be self-explanatory and obvious to users. Lanierhospital.com is not obvious or self-explanatory. There is an abundance of menu options that make it difficult to navigate to where one may need to go. Consider simplifying the navigational process of the website. What menus could you save for another page? What menu options should be on the main page? If it isn’t absolutely necessary, don’t use it. It will only clutter the menu options and be a distraction to the user.

Another improvement would be clarity and unity of the ideas presented. Upon opening the home page, the mission and goals of Lanier Health Services remain a mystery. It’s not even clear what kind of company it is. Because the photos are not picturing real employees, it seems like the site may not be a real hospital. The main picture of posed, smiling faces doesn’t tell enough about Lanier. Why not include a simple statement about the hospital? Or a few pictures of real employees? Or a picture of the hospital and the Chattahoochee River? There is no need to leave visitors to the website with unanswered questions. Be honest and straight to the point. This makes it easier for them, and they appreciate that.

Don’t Be Afraid of White space

White space, a term used in the design world, is just space that has no text or pictures. It’s white space. Lanierhospital.com could effectively use more white space to help users navigate the flow of information on the site. White space decreases the cognitive load of users as well as encourages a hierarchy of information to guide the readers as they scan the page.

Don’t Use Old-School in New-School Ways

While it can be tempting to upload a press release to the website and be done with it, website content is much more different from what you would give to a journalist for a paper. Take the extra time to write content differently for the website. If possible, set-up a blogging software program, like

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WordPress, that the PR department could update. You can use the same information, but don’t include the same news release format. Give it a title, add some pictures, throw in some links.

Test Early, Test Often

The website needs to be tested, and that includes every single part. For instance, the employee resources page puts the menu option “Contact Information” at the very bottom of the page. It’s impossible to see unless you scroll all the way to the bottom.

Simple Steps for Website Improvements:

1. Add photographs of real people from the hospital. There should be no fake photographs. Be transparent. Hire a professional photographer.

2. Link to scores. There’s no link to the actual to the Joint Commission website with Lanier Health Services’ scores. This causes questions. What scores are being hidden? Why should I trust these messages? Answer these questions by linking to the scores.

3. Update website code. The menu problem is caused by the HTML coding. It uses tables to layout the pages. Cascading style sheets are the modern way of laying out a website. It’s the perfect time to change the website layout since the hospital recently came under new management.

4. Don’t uploaded press releases. Change the content to match the channel. It can be essentially the same information. It doesn’t need the same formatting. Just a headline and smaller paragraphs is fine.

5. Reconsider font size. Many hospital patients are also older, which might mean they can’t see as well. This doesn’t mean the font should be huge. It should just be readable without zooming in.

6. Your mission has the word “compassionate” in it. Make the idea of compassion clear from the moment someone comes to the home page. This means hiring a professional website designer.

7. Have a more welcoming community page. There’s just a small map of the area. It’s not engaging. What are some cool attractions? Are their tourism bureau websites you could link to? Mimic their style when you are composing that page.

4800 48th StreetValley, AL 36854(334) 756-1402

info@lanierhospital.com

Your First ChoiCe healthCare Provider

Lanier HeaLtHServiceS

with

l oca l . . .g r owLanier

believes in...

strong community

local businesses

giving back

efficient care

wellness education

As a quality healthcare provider, we understand the importance of sharing a common set of values with

the community.

We don’t stop at believing.

We educate. We give. We build. We t a k e a c t i o n .

A strong community built our hospital in 1949. Their hard work and sacrifice made it possible for a rural community

like Valley, Ala., to be home to this Lanier Health Services. As a local business, we encourage the success of other local businesses. That’s why we work with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama to lower premiums for BCBS holders. We believe helping the employees Chambers County businesses helps us all. We have high scores in quality, patient safety and financial awareness, earning BCBS Tier 1 status. We believe in giving back. Each year

we give back to our community through our time, talents and money.

These are just a few of them:

• We partner with Read Across America, reading children’s books aloud in local schools.• We plan to raise $30,000 for the Chattahoochee Fuller Center home. • Our programs, like “Clean Air, Clean Lungs,” teach local children about their environment. • Leaders of the hospital give tips and advice on team building to high school students.

Emergency rooms aren’t fun for anyone. That’s why we focus on improving our wait time. You’ll

get in and out quickly, with the best service we can provide. At Lanier Health Services, the average emergency room patient waits 21 minutes to see the doctor. The average visit lasts only 126 minutes. So instead of wasting time, stay close to Chambers county. We promise to take good care of you.

Lanier Health Services places great importance on our primary care practice. Having a reliable family

doctor is something all our customers need, and our family practice will continue to grow with the community. Our goal is to get every family an appoinment when they need it, not two months from now.

4800 48th Street

Valley, AL 36854

(334)756-9180

Valley Times-NewsLanett, ALEditor Cy Wood, vt-n@mindspring.comAdvertising Rep. - Shawn Jarrell, advertising@valleytimes-news.comPublic service announcements, etc., matt@valleytimes-news.com

WTVM-TV PO Box 1848 Columbus, GA 31902Phone: (706) 494-5400 Fax: (706) 322-7527 Newsroom: (706) 494-5458 News Fax: (706) 327-0179 East Alabama Newsroom: (334) 745-3517, newsrelease@wtvm.comE-mail the sales department, sales@wtvm.comQuestions for Lee Brantley, General Manager

Carroll Video ProductionsOwner - Carey CarrollEmail: cvp@knology.net HPTV Charter TVOwner - Bradley BonnerEmail: bradtv@charterinternet.com

Realview TVAdv Rep - Heather GriffinAtlanta, GAEmail: hgriffin@realview.tv

The La Fayette Sun newspaperAdv Rep - Kendra Email: lsads@bellsouth.net

Media ListTV

Print

4800 48th Street

Valley, AL 36854

(334)756-9180

Opelika-Auburn NewsNews Desk/Event Information: (334) 749-6271Advertising: (334) 737-2488

Columbus and the Valley MagazineP. O. Box 229 Columbus, GA 31902 Phone: (706) 324-6214, Email: contactus@columbusandthevalley.com

WCJM FM RadioSteve Smoot and Steve WheelerPhone: (706) 645-2991 Fax: (706) 645-3364

WRLA RadioVince Smith503 W 8th St Ste 102West Point, GA 31833Phone: (706) 645-1490

WRLD FM Radio4404 20th AveValley, AL 36854Phone: (334) 756-8742 Chambers County Bradshaw LibraryRep—John Tidwelljohntidwell@chamberscountylibrary.org Chambers County SchoolsSuperintendent Phone: (334) 586-2280 City of Valley Community CenterParks & Recreation Dept. Head, Laurie BlountPhone: (334) 756-5281, Email: lblount@cityofvalley.com

Radio

Other

CLIENT: Lanier Health Services

TITLE: GROW LOCAL WITH LANIER HEALTH

TIME: :30 seconds

DATE: July 1 - Dec. 1, 2011

MALE V/O:

MALE V/O:

MALE V/O:

MALE V/O:

MALE V/O:

JOIN LANIER HEALTH SERVICES IN GROWING LOCAL

BUSINESSES IN CHAMBERS COUNTY.

BUILT BY THE SWEAT OF THE COMMUNITY IN 1950, WE

KNOW THE NEED FOR COMMUNITY SUPPORT AS A LOCAL

BUSINESS.

WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO THINK BEFORE YOU LEAVE

CHAMBERS COUNTY. STOP AND CONSIDER THE

OPPORTUNITIES YOU CAN GIVE TO LOCAL BUSINESSES

JUST BY CHOOSING TO STAY CLOSE.

LOCAL BUSINESSES EMPLOY YOUR NEIGHBORS, YOUR

FAMILY DOCTOR, AND HEY, MAYBE EVEN YOU.

SO, THINK BEFORE YOU SPEND, AND YOUR NEGHBORS

WILL THANK YOU FOR IT.

4800 48th Street

Valley, AL 36854

(334)756-9180

Planning Schedule for Riverside RemodelThree months prior:

1) Personally visit proposed participants and inform them of the event, leaving a participant information sheet with them. Ask for any questions or suggestions they have, since they are experts in planting. Follow up with a phone call or visit and secure their participation.2) Prepare layout of desired additions to garden i.e. types of annuals and biennials, and other plants. 3) Prepare all documents with appropriate date, time and place after choosing an acceptable date for the event. The recommended month for the event is August or September, as this is the better time to plant annuals and biennials.

Two months prior:

1) Send a thank you letter to participating plant vendors, giving them the information again about the event. Ask them what they plan on raffling or giving away and what discounts they have for the Riverside Remodel. Include these in the informational documents, etc.2) Inform local clubs and organizations about the event with personal visits if possible, or email releases.3) Plan out appetizers and drinks for the event, discuss the layout of tables, vendors and planting area, decide on appropriate background music. 5) Finalize the schedule and hold a staff meeting to inform about the final schedule.6) Plan locations of billboard ads and secure them for the next month, if budget allows.7) Secure landscaper or lawn manager for preparing the grounds and arrangement of plants for ceremonial planting, etc. Plan out what plants are needed for the specific location.8) Contact a local photographer about covering the event.

One month prior:

1) Send out all media: PSA, news release, pitch, etc. Create Facebook event. 2) Distribute flyers to local businesses and schools for display and distribution. 3) Schedule TV & radio interview with appropriate media contacts.4) Call participating vendors and ask what help they need in preparing for the event, if any. 5) Plan the Lanier Health Services informative table i.e. brochures, promo freebies, email sign up,

plant decorations. 6) Arrange for any tables, chairs or tents needed.

Two weeks prior:

1) Make TV appearance & radio appearance.2) Check weather and make plans if inclement conditions are expected. 3) Distribute schedule of events to plant vendors. 4) Create signage for directional assistance at the event i.e. parking, signs in hospital, etc. 5) Tweet about event and use hashtag #RiversideRemodel for reference.

Week of Event:

1) Hold a staff meeting at the start of the week to double check any loose ends, and delegate responsibilities to event staff i.e. setting up, food delivery, sound equipment, etc.2) Call landscaper to confirm preparation of grounds and delivery of plants for the day before the event.3) Gauge number of attendees from Facebook, word-of-mouth, etc. and confirm the amount of appetizers and drinks being served.4) Purchase bulk seed to give away for attendees. Consult the seller for ideas on practicality and usefulness of the seeds planned for purchase.5) Set up tables, tents, etc. the afternoon before if weather permits. 6) Purchase any napkins, plates or cups needed. 7) Confirm photographer for the event.

Planning Schedule for Riverside Remodel cont.

4800 48th Street

Valley, AL 36854

(334)756-9180

Staff Schedule

4800 48th Street

Valley, AL 36854

(334)756-9180

Saturday of the Event

8:00 a.m.

8:45 a.m.

9:00 a.m.

9:30 a.m.

9:45-10:45 a.m.

11 a.m.

Noon

Set up tables and chairs if they were not able to be set up the day before.Put up signage for attendees. Arrange music where needed. Help vendors set up tables, etc.

Short meeting of staff to review schedule of events.

Event officially begins.Brunch food is served.

Administration welcomes guests with short speech.Digging begins with short instructions for people who wish to plant, etc.CEO Doug Dewberry plants first plant, shows everyone how it’s done.

Raffles and giveaways are drawn for winners, if applicable.

Ending remarks from administration. Invitation to take free seed packets and continue the Riverside Remodel in other neighborhoods.Guests are invited to lunch at the cafeteria. *Vendors may leave, but are encouraged to stay as long as the guests.

Clean up of event

Riverside Remodel Staff Schedule & Garden Vendors

Suggested Garden Vendors

Marvin’s

Hayes Ace Hardware

State Line Hook And Horn

Hamilton Outdoor Supply

Wal-Mart

(334)768-3636

(205)756-3597

(334)644-4665

(706)628-9919

(334)768-2118

2918 20th Avenue Valley, AL 36854

4105 20th Avenue Valley, AL 36854

1111 County Road 212 Lanett, AL 36863

9097 U.S. Hwy 27 Hamilton, GA 31811

Hwy 29 Valley, AL 36854

Riverside Remodel

4800 48th Street

Valley, AL 36854

(334)756-9180

Schedule of Events

Saturday, Sept. 17 9:00 a.m.

9:30 a.m.

9:45-10:45 a.m.

11 a.m.

Brunch snacks served. Garden vendors discounts available.

Opening remarks.First planting of the morning with CEO Doug Dewberry. Community begins planting help.

Raffles and giveaways awarded.

Closing remarks.Lunch served in the famous cafeteria.

4800 48th Street

Valley, AL 36854

(334)756-9180

Valley, Ala.— Lanier Health Services’ first Riverside Remodel takes place at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept.

17 on the back patio of the hospital, facing the Chattahoochee River. Attendees can get their hands

dirty while helping Lanier Health Services plant for the fall.

“We want to remind Chambers County that we are a local hospital, and we’re part of the

community,” said Cindy Brooks, public relations director at Lanier Health Services. “People can come

help plant and see a different, dirtier side to our hospital. ”

Local garden vendors provided all the plants for Lanier Health Services’ fall garden. They will

also have special discounts for attendees. Raffles and giveaways will be awarded throughout the event

to attendees who register.

Lanier Health Services’ CEO, Doug Dewberry, will be getting his hands dirty and planting first

at 9:30 a.m. Along with the planting festivities, brunch will be served and guests are invited to stay for

lunch after the event at the hospital’s cafeteria.

“It is important that we keep our hospital beautiful for our community,” Brooks said. “Valley

residents see our family physicians, live in our on-site nursing home and visit our emergency room.

We want them to know the people who are treating them care about them.”

###

Contact Information: Cindy Brooks 334-756-1402 – Office 334-756-6698 – Faxcbrooks@lanierhospital.com

News Release

RIVERSIDE REMODEL EVENT TO TAKE PLACE SEPT. 17Lanier Health Services invites the Valley community to “Grow Local with Lanier”

September 1, 2011FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CLIENT: Lanier Health Services

TITLE: Dig in at the Riverside Remodel

TIME: :30 seconds

DATE: Aug. 17 - Sept. 17, 2011

SFX:

MALE V/O:

MALE V/O:

MALE V/O:

MALE V/O:

MALE V/O:

Distant sounds of lawn mowers and sprinklers.

COME AND ENJOY THE WARM WEATHER AND GET YOUR

HANDS DIRTY.

LANIER HEALTH SERVICES WOULD LIKE YOU TO JOIN

THEM ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 AT 9 A.M. AS THEY

REMODEL THEIR RIVERSIDE TERRACE GARDEN.

LOCAL BUSINESSES WILL BE ON HAND WITH A VARIETY OF

FALL PLANTS AND GARDENING EXPERTISE.

GET SPECIAL GARDENING DISCOUNTS, SO YOU CAN

DO SOME PLANTING OF YOUR OWN THIS FALL. NOT TO

MENTION, REFRESHMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED FOR ALL

HARDWORKING PARTICIPANTS!

GOOD FOOD, LOADS OF DISCOUNTS AND PLENTY OF

GIVEAWAYS! YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS CHANCE TO

GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY!

Riverside RemodelSaturday, Sept. 17

Riverside Terrace at Lanier Health

Services

9 to 11 a.m.

Thanks to our sponsors!

Stateline Hook & Horn

HamiltonOutdoor Supply

DISCOUNTS • RAFFLES • GIVEAWAYS

Come Have Fun & Get Your Hands Dirty!

LEND A HANDand help Lanier Hospital replant for the fall ...

PICK UP SOMEnew plants for your own yard!

FREE SEEDS for everyone who helps plant!

FOOD SERVED make sure to get there early ...

11” x 17” Flyer

10’ x 24’ Billboard Advertisement

Grow Local L a n i e r H e a l t hwith

Evaluation

56

Evaluation of Goals

According to our evaluation criteria, we are judging the effectiveness of our campaign through our goals and objectives for Lanier Health Services. The main goal of our campaign is to raise awareness of the services offered by the hospital to the community. We can measure the effectiveness of this goal by using the interaction tab on the Lanier Health Services Facebook home page. This page will show how many people have visited the hospital’s Facebook page and interacted through viewing photographs, writing on the organization’s wall, etc. The public relations practitioner must focus on using Facebook and Twitter as a social media tool rather than just directing to the hospital’s website.

Another way to check whether or not awareness of the hospital was raised is to check Facebook fans and how many people have “Liked” the Lanier Health Services Facebook page. For Twitter, the public relations personnel can check how many Twitter users have retweeted the hospital’s status messages. Consulting the IT department about using Google Analytics for the Lanier Health Services website is another way to measure the awareness of the hospital in the community. Google Analytics is a free, practical tool used to measure your website’s traffic. This program can teach you how to better target your audience and strengthen your marketing schemes. Overall, Google Analytics will create a better website for the organization and see how many people have visited the hospital website.

The second goal of our campaign is to increase the community involvement with the hospital. This goal can be measured simply by counting how many people show up at the hospital events and whether or not these numbers have increased since the beginning of the campaign. Not only will we strive to increase the number of citizens involved in the hospital events, but also increase the number of employees that stay involved in hospital events as well. Another way to measure the community involvement is through simple, short surveys. We suggest keeping the surveys one to five questions long; therefore, a large number of questions will not overwhelm people or deter them from participating. They can complete the surveys quickly, and the public relations personnel will still receive valuable information.

Here is an example of a survey to hand out at a hospital event:1. How did you hear about this event?2. Is this the first event you have attended at the hospital?3. Have you heard about past/future events?4. Did you invite anyone to come with you?

Here is an example of a survey to hand out to hospital employees:1. Do you participate in the hospital’s philanthropic efforts?2. Have you attended any hospital events? How many?

57

3. How are you informed of the hospital events?

Using the hospital’s quality of services and image surveys is an easy way to continue checking the effectiveness of the campaign. Patients can provide useful information to judge the image and quality of the hospital during their visits. In order to keep tabs on how the campaign is going, we recommend collecting data through surveys every six months to a year. We anticipate some problems with data collecting if business owners do not show up to the scheduled focus groups or employees do not fill out the surveys.

Limitations of the Campaign

One limitation of our campaign is the unknown budget for the public relations staff. After beginning a new fiscal year in the summer, the possibility of a budget may no longer be a limitation. The unclear goals and objectives for the hospital campaign are another limitation. After our initial meeting, we understood that improving the image and reputation of Lanier Health Services was the main objective for the campaign. We also understood that increasing the number of businesses with the Blue Cross Blue Shield contract was a secondary goal. After beginning the planning and implementation of the campaign, the main goals became unclear, but we resolved to pursue an image campaign based on our notes from initial meetings with hospital administration and consultations with our supervisor, Dr. Lauren Smith. The last limitation of our campaign is the need for more than one public relations staff to effectively implement this campaign. We believe that the hospital needs more than one person to carry this campaign’s implementation and hiring interns would be beneficial. If this is not done, the efforts might be more difficult to implement, and therefor may not be as effective.

Conclusion

The success or effectiveness of an image campaign is hard to define. Image campaigns have long-term effects and should be measured periodically. The public relations staff should continue to find innovative ways to be involved in the community and improve their image. Even though the image campaign may not provide drastic results, the long term results will be apparent if public relations efforts are continued over a long period of time.

Lanier Health Services already does a good job of actually being trustworthy and compassionate. Efforts like teaming up with the Chattahoochee Fuller Center Project to build employee homes are perfect examples of the character of this company. Continuing these efforts in conjunction with the “Grow Local with Lanier Health” will effectively improve the image of Lanier Health Services and ultimately their bottom line.