Public Affairs
Building public consensus regarding health priorities
Situation: Polk County Health Department is charged with delivering public health services in Iowa’s most populous county and implementing health improvement programs as defined in an ambitious ten-year plan. Elected officials and Department management were charged in 2008 to create a new road map – Healthy Polk 2020 – to identify future health priorities while [...]
Hospital mergers improve profitability
Situation: Catholic Health System, a five-hospital healthcare-provider network in Western New York, was under significant financial distress in 1998. Shrinking Medicare reimbursements coupled with shorter patient stays and fewer overnight admissions due to new technologies and therapies had put Buffalo, NY-based CHS at a crossroads. Management at CHS decided to “retask” three hospitals – providing [...]
Public input supports community/performing arts center
Situation: Hanser & Associates was retained in 2004-2005 to manage the overall process of forming an advisory committee and supporting all of the work of the committee – to assess the feasibility of a Community Center and Performing Arts Center that would be jointly operated by the City of West Des Moines and West Des [...]
Recycling campaign supports fee change – participation remained high
Situation: Metro Waste Authority is the waste processing agency for Central Iowa. In addition to managing the area’s solid and toxic waste disposal, Metro Waste Authority (MWA) administers the recycling program for Des Moines and most of its 14 suburbs. MWA retained Hanser & Associates for communication strategy and counsel when fee structures for recycling [...]
Manufacturer expands out-of-state – protects and builds reputation
Situation: Bayport, Minn.-based Andersen Corporation is the world’s largest manufacturer of wood windows and patio doors. Des Moines, Iowa-based EMCO Doors—Andersen’s wholly owned subsidiary since 2001—manufactures and distributes all-season/storm doors, is a top supplier to national retailers such as Home Depot, has an 80-year history in Des Moines and is a respected member of Iowa’s [...]
Publicity, testimony and events prepared industry for Y2K
Situation: As the year 2000 approached, nearly every mortal on the planet had heard about the Y2K computer problem … yet Y2K had special implications for the healthcare industry, when a Y2K malfunction could have meant life or death. Recognizing the industry in general was not prepared or coordinated in its Y2K compliance efforts, Minneapolis-based [...]
Association uses PR to define position in community
Situation: Des Moines, Iowa-based Iowa Pharmacy Association (IPA) is the state society representing the profession of pharmacy, serving the professional needs of all pharmacists, pharmacy students and pharmacy technicians. IPA retained Hanser & Associates in 2002 when the statewide association needed to more effectively communicate with the Iowa legislature and statewide opinion leaders regarding drug [...]
Hand-washing demonstrations/info encourage residents to prevent influenza
Situation: With flu season bearing down and a shortage of flu vaccine making headlines in fall of 2004, Good Samaritan Hospital (GSH), located in Kearney, Neb., wanted to inform the public in central Nebraska of the importance of proper hand washing to help prevent the spread of bacterial and viral infections. PR Action: Hanser & [...]
Health care system generates support and funds for service expansion
Situation: Catholic Health System (CHS), a five-hospital health care system based in Buffalo, NY, serves the cardiac and other health care needs of Western New York. The successful system, formed by the 1998 merger of three Catholic hospital systems, has consolidated hospitals and services, introduced advancements in cardiac, neonatal and other services; increased patients served, [...]
Health care association maintains funding
Situation: Washington, D.C.-based American Health Care Association (AHCA) is the national trade association for the long-term care industry. In 2002, the industry was confronted with congress-imposed pending Medicare cuts that would slash health care funding for nursing home residents – for example, $26 million in Iowa and $56 million in Ohio. PR Action: Hanser & [...]