Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. is in the throes of a sweeping reorganization that could ultimately mean its local PR will call the shots on shaping the corporate image of the troubled-but-thriving hospital giant. The corporate strategy, which calls for Columbia to shed one-third of its 340 hospitals, is intended to transform the chain into a network of community-based hospitals. But from a local PR standpoint, the facelift mission will require aggressive community damage control and educational efforts focused on making the transition as smooth as possible.
Effective Jan. 1, Columbia/HCA is slated to reduce the number of operating divisions from 36 to 18 and will reorganize its hospitals into five groups, three of which may be spun off or sold. Four of the new groups will be based out of the current headquarters in Nashville, Tenn. with the other in Dallas. "I think we all realize that bigger is not necessarily better," said Dr. Thomas Frist Jr., Columbia's chairman and CEO, during a broadcast speech to employees last month. The transition is expected to take 12 to 18 months to complete.
The hospitals targeted for sale are based in rural areas and urban markets where Columbia does not have a stronghold. The company also plans to pull out of five states - Arkansas, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Wyoming.
This latest move is a significant departure from how former chairman Richard Scott ran the $20 billion healthcare giant, which is now under intense investigative scrutiny from federal investigators for Medicare fraud.
But the million-dollar PR question is still whether this divestiture will help or hurt the hospitals that are sold. At present, the North Texas market could see three Columbia hospitals located in Lancaster, Sherman and Terrell spun off or sold.
Getting Community Buy-In
Kurt Schussler, marketing director of Columbia/HCA, The Medical Center of Lancaster (Lancaster) is grappling with this question as one of three North Texas hospitals being spun off. He likens the Columbia situation to the corporate anxiety and controversy that surrounded AT&T when it broke into smaller individually operated telephone companies. "Ultimately the profitability [of the breakup] was phenomenal and the baby bells were more valuable in the long run."
For Lancaster and the other spun-off hospitals, the Columbia disassociation opens the door for strengthening ties with local vendors and community leaders while still benefiting from Columbia's volume purchasing discounts, information systems and managed care contracts.
But getting the community to understand this "best of both worlds" position is the PR challenge that each Columbia hospital being sold is facing.
On a local level, Lancaster's PR team is explaining why the reorganization is a positive move for the hospital, emphasizing that it will not likely be shut down. On a statewide level, all inquiries are being directed to Caren Krumerman, Columbia's regional director of business development and marketing for the North Texas division.
So far, Krumerman has fielded close to 30 media calls on the reorganization and is developing a regional PR strategy to address the broad range of community concerns, from whether the hospitals will close to if fraudulent activities are causing the spin-offs.
"It's important for the local PR [pros] to talk to the media and stress that the reorganization is by no means a precursor to the hospitals shutting down. The hospitals will still be a strong provider in the community and there will be better, more local community control of the care provided."
But this regional piece of advice is optional. Local hospitals can use it or take it with a grain of salt. This hands-off PR approach echoes Columbia's marketing strategy that involves regional corporate campaigns that can be customized on a local level. (Columbia/HCA, The Medical Center of Lancaster, Kurt Schussler, 972/223-9600 ext. 972; Columbia/HCA North Texas division, Caren Krumerman, 972/789-2703)
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Happy Holidays Due to our winter publishing schedule, this will be your last Healthcare PR & Marketing News issue for 1997. Look for our special "Outlook '98" focus in the Jan. 8 issue. Have a joyous holiday season. - The Editors |