In recent weeks, some of the 342 Columbia/HCA hospitals are dropping "Columbia" from their names. As the embattled hospital chain struggles to reshape itself under Dr. Thomas Frist's new leadership, a recent trend of Columbia disassociation and national image-building abandonment has caught on nationwide.
An exact count of hospitals that have dropped the Columbia name has not been released by the Nashville, Tenn.-based healthcare giant, but Jeff Prescott, Columbia's media relations manager, confirmed that each of the hospitals had been freed to choose its own name. "There's been no edict from on high that says thou shalt answer the phone in such a manner or use a certain name. People are making local decisions on how they want to handle [the name situation]. If they believe it's better in their community not to use the name, then it's up to them."
So far, hospitals in Florida, Kansas, Alabama and California have said they no longer use the corporate name.
Responding to its new local power to choose, Marty Campanello, chief marketing and communications officer for Columbia's Florida division, commented that "Columbia is just allowing a lot more decisions to be made in the local market... It's just part of returning power to the local hospitals. (Columbia/HCA, 615/344-9551)