Cassels Caywood Love and Mission Children's Hospital: Mission Children's Hospital Takes One Giant Step
North
Carolina-based Mission Hospitals began treating patients in 1885.
Mission Children's Hospital began as a patient unit of that larger
organization. Over the past decade, it has become its own entity and
the only children's hospital serving the 18 western North Carolina
counties.
Throughout the evolution of Mission Children's, the group has tried
to build awareness of the specialized care it provides. In 2006, it
embarked upon an integrated effort that would spread information about
the hospital to doctors and parents and raise the $11 million necessary
to build a state-of-the-art outpatient center, a financial goal set
four years earlier.
To reach the doctors, Mission Children's conducted "lunch and learn"
events at physician practices in order to explain their pediatric
expertise in person. To further establish trust, they published a Pediatric Subspecialty Directory
in print and online, which gave doctors across the region access to
information about its staff and more confidence about referrals.
To reach parents, the hospital used all of the media at its disposal, especially the area's prominent newspaper, the Asheville Citizen-Times,
where it placed an insert in September 2006. It also worked with a
local advocacy group, Children First, to host a lecture series on
children's health issues, such as eating disorders and adolescent brain
development.
Raising millions of dollars in rural North Carolina would require
multilevel outreach. The Mission Healthcare Foundation's "Windows of
Childhood Campaign" incorporated Web-based communications, direct mail,
fundraisers, testimonials, and other means to raise money.
In the end, referrals from area doctors increased. Mission
Children's physicians who care for patients while they're hospitalized
increased patient visits from 2,303 to 6,572 in just one year.
The number of consumers naming Mission Children's as their preferred
pediatric hospital jumped. In one key county, the percentage leapt from
9% to 31%.
Finally, the foundation reached its financial goal, raising
$11,016,000, and opened its 70,000-square-foot Reuter Outpatient Center
in spring 2006. A total of 1,400 individuals and corporations donated
to the cause.
Finalists
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American Red Cross
Maintaining the Public's Trust & Confidence Post-Katrina
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America's Second Harvest
Making Hunger History
-
Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau
Every Day is an Opening Day
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Cassels Caywood Love
Mission Children's Hospital Takes One Giant Step
Honourable Mention
America's Second Harvest: Making Hunger History
Every
year, America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network
provides food for more than 25 million Americans through more than 200
food banks nationwide. The PR staff of nine was tested in fiscal year
2006 when Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma caused demand for
emergency food assistance to skyrocket. The team was also responsible
for spreading information about Hunger in America 2006, the
largest study ever on the topic. Finally, the staff was called upon to
improve internal communications. America's Second Harvest's work on
behalf of hurricane victims was immediately recognized with placement
on CNN's ticker, as well as other major media outlets. They also
received a donation from Oprah's Angel Network and participated in a
media tour with the popular show. In total, it raised $34 million and
reached the federal government with daily updates outlining the need. Hunger in America 2006 reported
a 9% increase in the number of people receiving aid, and secured more
than 170 million media impressions in the weeks after its release.
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