Having an in-depth crisis communications plan in place makes all the difference when an employee is murdered and the police and the media are swarming outside your hospital in the middle of the night.
When Sherry Crandell, a hospital director of the family health center was found dead in her Prince George's Hospital Center office in Cheverly, Md., last Wednesday at 9:30 p.m., the crisis would be the first to test a lengthy (80-page) crisis communications plan that Lisa Schiller, who heads up the hospital's PR, had recently completed.
Using the plan as a reference point, Schiller and Maritza Matheus, the director of marketing, worked through Wednesday night to hammer out a communications strategy that targeted their key audiences: employees, doctors, patients and the media.
The chilling circumstances around the Crandell murder that involved her body lying on the floor, hands and legs bound with part of her body exposed, immediately called into question the hospital's safety procedures and overall security capabilities.
The communications plan had to "communicate that the hospital is a safe place for employees, doctors and patients," said Schiller. The two-phase strategy first focused on the hospital's efforts to help police find the murderer, then emphasized its security initiatives.
On day one, Schiller briefed seven communications staffers for an afternoon press conference that announced a $15,000 award for information leading to the murderer and a $5,000 fund for Crandell's family. Reporters were reminded that no questions could be answered regarding the criminal investigation (which would be best answered by police). During the press conference, the Prince George's Hospital Center President Allan E. Atzrott broke down in tears as he expressed the hospital's shock, grief and anger over Crandell's murder, pointing out that this kind of crime could happen at any large organization. Reporters were also told that the hospital was reviewing its security procedures and will form a task force to improve them.
Media Roundup
By day two, security had become more of an issue as some hospital personnel who were interviewed alluded to the hospital's security being a problem prior to the murder.
To combat these reports, Schiller had her department collect all of the media's inquiries throughout the day so that they could be addressed in time for the 5 p.m. news. "Rather than doing 20 different interviews, we wanted to address all of the questions at once and then release a security update."
The media update highlighted how in the last three-and-a-half years petty crimes like thefts had actually decreased by 50% and in the 50-year history of the hospital no one had ever been murdered.
Compared to when the story broke, which involved media reports that contained several factual errors on the incident and blasted the hospital's security, day two's coverage was much more accurate.
The security question was handled with sensitivity and conveyed how the hospital was committed to improving its security system, said Schiller.
At HPRMN's press time the murder case had not been solved.
(Prince George's Hospital Center, Lisa Schiller, 301/925-7000)